Himlerville: Hungarian Cooperative Mining in Kentucky - The Filson ...

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1992] HimlerviUe 535 responded by writing a series of articles in English in Magyar Banyaszlap exposing all the "dens of iniquity" in Logan oper- ated by immigrants or natives. He then challenged the Logan police department to "save the decent foreigner from these sharks and to eliminate this curse." Vice, Himler told his readers, could not survive without the knowledge of the police department. "Each and every one of the brothels and speakeasies is paying regularly to some one for protection." If the Logan police did not "clean-up" their town, Himler threatened to organize immigrants in the area to combat criminals, who, Himler said, were "cheating and fleecing the foreigner and infecting him with gonorrhea and syphilis. ''65 Himlerville's Hungarian population had problems with the United Mine Workers of America. Apparently the union discrim- inated against immigrants. Himler warned the UMWA that it would have to "mend its ways." Foreign-born miners, observed the writer of "A Friendly Warning to the United Mine Workers of America," are being treated unfairly. Strike benefits were not distributed evenly among union members since immigrants received much less than did native Americans. Local officials and committee members were mostly American; they played politics and distributed union funds, clothing, and groceries on the basis of nationality rather than need, even though foreign members assumed the same obligations and risks that natives did. They paid the same dues, struggled and fought when called upon, and were always in the front lines of a strike. Justice, however, was not even-handed. Immigrants also suffered more at the hands of local officials during a strike. While natives were usually only fined for picketing, foreigners were fined and then made subject to deportation. 65 See the following articles written in English by Martin Himler in Magyar Banyaszlap at various dates: "To the Civic Association of Logan and Williamson," 26 January 1928; ''To the Chief of Police of Logan, W.Va.," 15 December 1927; "Is Logan Cleaning House.'?" 19 January 1928; "Big Burlesque Show in Williamson," 2 February 1928. 66 Martin Himler, "A Friendly Warning to the U. Mine Workers of America,"
536 The Filson Club History Quarterly [October Since Hungarian and other immigrant communities in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Florida raised money to support the IJMWA's strike fund, why discriminate against immigrant miners? Why create a breach in the UMWA's unity? Himler warned union officials that unless the discrimination stopped immediately, all Hungarian-American societies would stop contributing to the union's strike fund, and Hungarians would help only their own during strikes,e7 Despite the prejudice, a limited degree of assimilation occurred in Himlerville. Occasionally Hungarians and native mountaineers married. Steve Balazs was a Hungarian who married an American woman. His wife, whose family name was Damron, came from a traditional Martin County family. In her childhood, Mrs. Balazs learned the Hungarian language well enough to converse with Himlerville's population. Balazs recalls that when he was first married, his wife and mother spoke Hungarian because his mother could not understand English. "Between the two languages," Balazs states, "one would speak part Hungarian and part English, and one would speak part English and part Hungarian, and they got along real well. ''m Mrs. Balazs was not the only mountain child to learn Hungarian. A girl named Violet Smith learned the Hungarian language well enough to land parts in Hungarian plays. s After several years of intense struggle it appeared that the Hungarian experiment with cooperative mining might succeed. The mine produced thousands of tons of coal from 1920 until 1927. During the first year of operation (1920) the cooperative sold 14,685 tons of coal. The next year production increased to 51,871 tons. In 1923 production increased five fold to 288,043 Magyar Banyaszlap, 9 February 1928; Numerous articles which appeared in the United Mine Workers Journal at various times were anti-immigrant. See, for exampte, "Shifting Populations," 26 July 1917, p. 5; "Immigration: Beneficial and Injurious," 30 March 1916, p. 4; Scott Nearing, "Immigration and Wages," 7 December 1916, p. 14. 67 Himler, "A Friendly Warning to the U. Mine Workers of America." 68 Balazs interview. 69 Ibid.
Page 1 and 2: THE FILSON CLUB HISTORY QUARTERLY V
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