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State Police, Bethlehem Steel Strike, 1910.
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Cossacks on horseback leaving the steel mill.

Credit: From The American Cossack, Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor, 1914.

Infamous among state's coal miners and industrial workers for their excessive and at times unlawful use of force in the service of employers, the Pennsylvania State police were known for decades as the Pennsylvania "Cossacks". Sent by Governor Stuart to keep order during the 1910 Bethlehem Steel strike, the State police furthered their reputation for excessive use of force when a policeman fired into a bar and killed a Hungarian worker purchasing wine for his wife's upset stomach. The walkout, which lasted 108 days, ended badly for the striking workers, who received no wage increase.

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