Constitution and Laws of District No. 20, of the United Mine Workers of America. Established May 16, 1898 by [LABOR HISTORY - ALABAMA] UMWA

Birmingham: 1898. First Edition. 16mo (ca 14cm x 10cm). Staple-bound printed wrappers; 8pp. Mild external wear and soil; small losses to wrapper edges; Very Good. Signed in type at end of text by W.R. Fairley, President and I.L. Clemo, Secretary. Possibly the earliest printed vestige of the United Mine Workers in Alabama. The UMWA has a rather complicated history in the deep south; the union suffered a powerful defeat, failing to win formal recognition among mine operators in its founding year (1890), and retreated from the region for most of the following decade. With the rising economic tide of 1897 the UMWA was able to re-establish itself; Alabama was established as the UMWA's District 20 in May of 1898 and Birmingham Local 423 was established a few months later. This Constitution, dated December 12-13, 1898, would thus appear to be the first of its kind in Alabama and one of the first in the deep south. Rare; OCLC gives no locations, nor do we locate any example of any Alabama-printed UMWA tracts preceding this one (the nearest competitor being the 1899 By-Laws of Birmingham Local 423, sold by us in 2017).