Ludlow Tent Colony Site

Ludlow Tent Colony Site is an area in Ludlow, Colorado associated with the Ludlow Massacre that was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on January 16, 2009. It is an archeological site. The press release reads: Ludlow Tent Colony, Ludlow, CO, is nationally significant in the history of industry for its association with the Ludlow Massacre, a pivotal event in American history that culminated in the destruction of the tent colony and the deaths of two women and eleven children on April 20, 1914. The tent colony originated when coal miners and their families were evicted from company housing during a strike that began in September 1913. The colony, or camp, was established by the United Mine Workers of America on vacant land near the mines and the small community of Ludlow. On April 24, a truce was declared and representatives of the miners and the mine owners med to discuss a “peace with justice.” In 1916, the United Mine Workers of America purchased the 40-acre site of the Ludlow Massacre, and two years later, a monument commemorating the massacre was built. Since then, union rallies and commemorations have become regular events at the site. The Ludlow Tent Colony Site is the first such strike camp to be archeologically investigated. This site is a prime example of what archeologists consider to be the perfect source of physical data because it is a short-term occupation that was destroyed by fire. Archeological investigation of the site to date is providing the means to gain a richer, more detailed, and more systematic understanding of the everyday reality of mining families of the period and throughout the United States.