Soldiers Called to Quell Newport Strike

By Jim Reis-reprinted here with his permission from
Pieces of the Past-Volume 1

Soldiers patrolled the city streets in tanks.  Men armed with pistols peeked around buildings, firing shots and ducking out of sight.  Militia returned the fire with machine guns, spraying homes in the area.  Bullets ricocheted around rooms, breaking mirrors and vases, and sending innocent sleepers scrambling under beds.  Cars armed with men sped down streets, taking potshots at pedestrians and disappearing down alleys.

The scene could have been Northern Ireland or Lebanon, but it was Newport during the turbulent months of late 1921 and early 1922.  Problems began in November 1921 when workers at Andrews Steel Mill and the Newport Rolling Mill Company turned down a contract that included a pay cut.  The wage being offered was 28 cents an hour.  That was considered a reasonable wage and there is some reason to believe the workers would have accepted.  But the steel companies also wanted an open shop and the union men would not stand for that.

The strike put 2000 men on the streets.  Steel officials said they needed the wage and union concessions to remain competitive.  They claimed their workers already were making between 1 and 8 cents an hour more than workers in other steel mills.  And they claimed that without the concessions, the steel plants would cut back to ease salary costs.

The mood of the strike suddenly shifted when the steel firms sent out a letter on November 30.  Addressed to the workers' families, it gave the union men an ultimatum; agree immediately to sign a card accepting the terms, or the company would begin hiring new workers.  About 1000 union men refused to accept the terms.

W N Andrews, president of the two Newport steel companies, announced the plants were reopening, and the mood turned ugly.  Reports surfaced of strikers harassing those who attempted to work.  Company officials, meanwhile were accused of not bargaining in good faith.  Rumors circulated that the company had smuggled in 36 machine guns for its protection.  The rumors became so rampant that the Newport City Commission called for an investigation.  But steel company officials said no investigation was necessary.

"We admit the guns are in our plant," said steel company attorney, Frank Benton, in a newspaper article of December 18.  "Those guns will not be used unless the plant is attacked."  Searchlights were installed on the plant, bathing the outside area in light.

Strikers, meanwhile, set up "guardposts" at every major intersection around the plant, challenging everyone attempting to pass.  And depending on which version one believes, they either tried to talk or threaten workers out of going into the steel plants.  Company and union officials publicly pleaded for calm, but the pleas went unheeded.

The next day a car carrying two workers to the Newport Rolling Mill was fired on.  An estimated 40 shots hit the car, wounding both men.  Another man told police he was jumped and beaten by two men while walking to the plant.  About 1:20 am December 20, a shooting spree broke out around the plant.  Each side blamed the other for starting it.  Between 100 and 200 shots were fired into the steel plant and employees there returned fire.

Residents in the are of Brighton, Powell, and Eighth and Ninth streets had to dive for cover as bullets fired from the steel plants ripped through the windows of their homes.  Some reported furniture splintered and bullets whizzing over their heads.  No one was hurt, but the residents demanded city action.  Company officials notified Governor Edwin P Morrow to send troops.

The Kentucky Post in a story on December 22, begged for calm.  Its editorial said state troops were not necessary if city, company and union officials would sit down and talk.  On Christmas Eve, the first contingent of state militia marched into Newport at 8 am.  Decked in battle gear, the troops reported hearing bursts of machine gun fire and pistol shots as they turned the corner at 11th and Brighton streets.  In all 200 troops were brought in that day.  The troops, under Colonel H H Denhardt, spread out and the gunmen scattered.

Company officials welcomed the troops, giving them breakfast.  Bur many of the people on the streets cursed the troops as they marched through Newport. General Jackson Morris, who had arrived earlier said, "We want not only to stop this trouble, but to cure the cause of it, if possible.  I want to get both sides together, as soon as possible and see what can be done."

Despite days of shootings between strikers and company officials, the first death was one of the soldiers.  Robert Deaton, 20 of Barbourville, was shot and killed when another soldier fell and his gun discharged.  Civic officials again called for peace.  They asked union men to accept the 28 cents an hour salary, to agree to at least a two-month grace period for negotiations the next time a contract expired and to open union meetings to the public.  Company officials were asked to accept union bargaining.

The militia, meanwhile, was digging in, erecting barracks for a long stay and starting to patrol the streets of Newport.  The governor sent in more troops, boosting the total to 330 by December 28.  By then, many of the strikers saw the Army as just as much the enemy as the steel companies.  And as 1922 began, there were reports that militia trucks were shot at as they drove through Newport. 

On New Year's Day, the fighting spilled over into Kenton County.  Early that day, strikers were accused of firing at the steel plants from the Covington side of the Licking River.  Colonel Denhardt ordered the militia to return the fire.  They opened up with their machine guns, peppering the Covington hills.  Apparently they did not hit anyone.  Denhardt demanded that Covington officials crack down on the snipers and issued a "shoot to kill" order to his men, saying he feared a mob attack on the steel plants.

The trouble escalated later that week when troops fired on two boats trying to approach the steel plant from the Licking River.  Speculation was that the boat was carrying explosives intended to blow up the steel plants.  During the next week, the situation appeared to calm, but no strike settlement was in sight.  So Governor Morrow announced he was coming to Newport to mediate.

A closed meeting between the governor, union, company and civic leaders was held after the governor's arrival on January 17.  Representing the city were Newport businessman Milton Marx, Rev E R Overly of Grace Methodist Church and Rev M J Lieck of Corpus Christi Church.  No solution was found.  The stumbling black of a closed union shop remained.  M F Tighe, international President of the Amalgamated Association, told the governor the strikers would not go back without full union rights.  Governor Morrow headed back to Frankfort "bitterly disappointed."

Union men continued to meet and encourage each other, but more and more they were being forced to leave town to find new jobs.  The company struggled to keep its operation going with an inexperienced work force that suffered from a high turnover rate.  It continued its pressure on the union by evicting families of strikers who were living in company owned homes.  In mid-January the state troops moved out of Newport, but a couple of weeks later were back.

On February 2, the trouble began at 6:45 pm when a crowd of strikers were surprised by the arrival of two truckloads of troops.  The crowd grew larger and angrier, especially after it learned the soldiers were members of tank crews that had been in Covington.  When the first tanks rolled into Newport, the crowd turned into a mob.  Before peace was restored 12 hours later, the worst fighting of the strike ensued.  A series of gun battles involved strikers, plant officials and tank troops.  At one point, Newport police were trying to stop the riot and were caught in the crossfire and had to be rescued.

It took dawn and a show of force from the tanks to scatter the snipers. While the state troops took on the role of peacemakers, they were not universally welcomed.  In March 1922, they broke into a Newport union meeting, arresting one union leader and looking for another.  The charge was conspiring to restrict and prohibit free trade.  Petitions with thousands of signatures from the Newport area asked the governor to withdraw the troops which he did in April 1922.

The union declared the strike a success, but most of its hard core members had left town, finding work elsewhere.  Steel company officials considered it a victory for them, but the strike had hurt them financially.   Newport Steel now operates the plants.

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