John J. Casey: Labor Leader Congressman

By Ann Miriam Gallagher

John J. Casey was a beloved hero to countless American workers during the late 19th and early 20th century. Truly a titan of his time, he was a stalwart champion of the oppressed, a loyal American patriot and most importantly, an extraordinary human being.

 

In a career spanning four decades, with tireless effort he improved the lives of thousands of working people by permanently changing the equation between management and labor, bringing a new sense of fairness and dignity to those struggling to survive on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

 

This book highlights his path of public service in conscientious detail. While its clearly an academic treatise and not a work of dramatic literature, still the courageous spirit of the great man comes shining through every page.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Casey Recovery
• Release date: Jul 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393738312

Book preview

Introduction

John J. Casey was a beloved hero to countless American workers during the late 19th and early 20th century. Truly a titan of his time, he was a stalwart champion of the oppressed, a loyal American patriot and most importantly, an extraordinary human being.

In a career spanning four decades, with tireless effort he improved the lives of thousands of working people by permanently changing the equation between management and labor, bringing a new sense of fairness and dignity to those struggling to survive on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. 

Born in 1875, in the anthracite coal region of Wilkes-Barre, PA, his father was a worker in one of the area’s largest mines. In our modern day, it’s impossible to grasp the appalling conditions that miners toiled under back then. They worked long hours in a dark, dirty and truly hazardous environment, with management controlling every aspect of their lives. They lived in company houses which, in essence, were just glorified shacks. They bought all their provisions from the company store, mainly on company credit, and often by week’s end, they owed the company more money than they had made. In essence they were poorly paid slaves, earning subsistence wages at best.

And critically in those days, mine workers had virtually no power to stand up to ownership for even the most basic of human rights. If they tried to organize in any way, the penalties inflicted on them by management were extreme. They would be ostracized and black-balled, unable to find work of any kind.

But the worst part of all was that they had no protection against any kind of injury or even death. It was not uncommon for a miner to be killed in an accident. And after his wife and family would attend his funeral, when they returned from the cemetery they would have to move out of their company home into the poor house, all on the same day. 

This is exactly what happened to the Casey household, except their story had a twist to it. The eldest of three sons, when he was eight years old, John’s father was killed in a mine explosion and management gave Casey’s widow a terrible choice – either move her family out of the company home immediately, or take her oldest boy out of school and put him to work in a full time job in the mine. 

Facing the awful decision added great tragedy to her grief, but little John knew what he had to do and the next morning, he reported for work in the mine. Every day was a tedious ten-hour grind in horribly oppressive conditions. But as time went on, there was something special about this little, red-haired kid and everybody noticed it. He was a diligent, hard worker with a strong spirit and even at a young age he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Overnight, with the odds clearly stacked against him, he had been forced to become the man of the house. But somehow, short on money and schooling, yet long on grit and determination, mixed with a keen sense of what is right, this boy who was so rudely thrust into manhood grew up to become one of the most renowned and respected labor leaders in American history. 

The short book that follows tells the story of how it happened, and it is a unique work in its own right.

Like most area mine workers, Casey was a lifelong, devout Catholic and the book was written by Sister Ann Miriam Gallagher, a nun of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, as the dissertation for her Master’s Degree, which she submitted to Catholic University in 1959. According to the sister, the meticulously researched chronology of his labor accomplishments is meant to be a testament to his virtue.

It begins with a deeply moving look at his early years, then it focuses on his public life, which started when he was 17 and formed a small union with some friends. Already a gifted speaker, he was elected its president at the age of 19.

For eight years, he continued his work as a rising labor leader, while he put himself through night school to complete his education. Then, in 1906, he led a populist movement, and with no political backing and barely any money, he won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, becoming the first person in state history to win an election running on a purely labor ticket. This marked the beginning of his long career as a public servant.

It was a turbulent time in the area, with management and labor constantly battling for control. In the years that followed, he served four different terms in the United States House of Representatives, holding a hotly contested seat that he won and lost three times. In each election, his opponents were wealthy representatives of big business.

Remarkably, even during the years he was not in Congress, he remained in public service, always involved in critical labor-related positions. As a long-serving Commissioner of Mediation and Reconciliation, he travelled extensively throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts, helping to avert or resolve an unending number of major labor disputes. With each success his reputation grew. Soon he became nationally known as a fair, even-handed mediator, with an uncanny ability to reach seemingly impossible settlements, even between hard-boiled combatants, intent on victory at any cost. 

As a United States congressman, his accomplishments for labor were nothing short of legendary. He introduced some of the first real safety laws for miners in the country, as well as the first laws to protect women workers, assuring them of their rights to organize. And having started work as a coal miner at the age of 8, obviously protecting children in the workforce was always a major issue for him. Struck by a deep sense of compassion, with unwavering devotion, he helped craft the first child labor laws in American history.

Then, as America entered World War I and wartime production became critical, it was essential for management and labor to work effectively together, despite their constant, ongoing conflicts. To keep the crucial war production on even keel, Casey was appointed to key government positions. He started on a seven-member national advisory board and then became a key executive of the Emergency Fleet Division.

But his interests in helping the oppressed also extended beyond America. In 1916, as the massive war raged through Europe, millions of Lithuanians in dire straits literally had to run for their lives.  A large population of them lived in Casey’s district and they appealed to their congressman for help. Casey went right to work, and in September of that year, he authored a bill which was signed by President Woodrow Wilson, bringing much needed assistance to the immigrants. Thus, Casey the Irishman became known as the Father of Lithuanian Day. 

In the years that followed the war, while in Congress Casey continued to represent the downtrodden in the country, particularly the returning servicemen, who were, in his opinion, suffering an unfair, miserable plight.  He worked closely with future New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, always championing the cause of the underdog.

He continued his public work until May of 1929, when he died suddenly while on a government trip to Panama.

Casey’s body was brought back to Wilkes Barre where it lay in state as thousands passed by in respect. The following day, over 20,000 people lined the streets to bid farewell to their fallen hero as the coffin was taken to the city’s largest church for a funeral mass. 

In the eulogy, the bishop spoke of the fullness of Casey’s personal life. He had been married for nearly 30 years and was the active, loving father of ten. Then he added that Casey was also the father of the poor, who devoted his life to bettering the conditions of the laboring classes. He lived and died and the world is better for it. Had he played the game of life according to the rules of self, he would have died a rich man. But success to Casey meant not self-aggrandizement. Success to him meant better laws for his country, and prosperity, happiness and opportunity for all people.

In the short book that follows, Sister Ann Miriam highlights his path of public service in conscientious detail. While her narrative is clearly an academic treatise and not a work of dramatic literature, still the courageous spirit of the great man comes shining through every page.

John Joseph Casey

Labor Expert

1875- - -1929

By

Sister Ann Miriam Gallagher, R.S.M.

A Dissertation Submitted To The Faculty Of The Graduate School Of Arts And Sciences Of The Catholic University Of America In

Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements For The Degree Of Master Of Arts

August, 1959

Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Chapter I.... ......... ..............Background And Early Life

Chapter II .............Casey The Plumber

Chapter III........... ....................Casey In The United States Congress

And In The United States Department

Of Labor (1912-1918)

Chapter IV................ ...........Casey's Activities In And Out Of

Congress (1918-1929)

Abbreviations Used In Text And Footnotes:

AFL American Federation of Labor

B.T.C. Building Trades Council

C.L.U  Central Labor Union

I/A    International Association of Steamfitters and Their Helpers

PFL Pennsylvania Federation of Labor

U.A. United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Pipefitting

Industry of the United States and Canada

Preface

The career of a man who, interested in the American Labor Movement from his early years, progressed steadily from being a Breaker-Boy in a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, coal mine to becoming a local, state, national, and international labor leader and ultimately a member of the United States Congress, offers interesting possibilities for investigation. Such a career was that of John Joseph Casey.

John Joseph Casey's equipment for public life was not obtained by exposure to academic training. He was a self-educated man who maintained that he had secured his knowledge in the great university of Hard Knocks and in the exacting, yet liberal school of organized labor which he loved so well. A man of high