The 87th annual meeting of the Franklin County Historical Society will be a special one. It will tell a story of the Amazon Army. Kansas–in December 1921, thousands of women in southeast Kansas rose up to fight injustice in the area coalfields, impacting coal mining labor conditions at the local, state, and national levels. At the meeting, Linda O’Nelio Knoll will present “Army of Amazons: Women’s Fight for Labor Rights in Kansas Coalfields” it chronicles southeast Kansas coal miners who had been striking for months when their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters joined the fight. Not only did it cripple mine production for nearly a month; in the long term, their continued activism impacted future statewide elections and national legislation.
The presentation will be held Sunday, February 4th at 2:00 in the afternoon and will be available both in person at the Historical Society Archives and Research Center on East Logan Street in Ottawa and online via zoom and facebook live. It is free and open to the public.
