Estevan Riot 1931: Documentary Evidence

USING DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

The documents listed on this page relate to the Estevan Riot and to labour unrest in the Bienfait and Estevan coal fields in 1931.

The documents are numbered for use with the learning package "Estevan Riot 1931: Weighing the Causes" [1].

Click on a document title to open a document in a new window.

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, R-284: L-M1– Saskatchewan Dept. of Labour,
Deputy Minister’s Office – Estevan Bienfait Coal Mine, 1931

Document Number	Document Title
Document 1	Short Chronological Review of the Labour Dispute – Saskatchewan Lignite Coal fields – September-October 1931, 28 October 1931, signed by Thomas M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Labour [2]
Document 2	Open Letter to the Miners of the Sask. Coalfields, from Saskatchewan-Manitoba District council of the Workers’ Unity League, 1931 [3]
Document 3	Letter to T.M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Labour, from Edw. Pierce, Eastern Collieries of Bienfait, Ltd., 16 October 1931, with enclosed leaflet entitled “Protest Against Brutal Murder of Miners in Estevan!” issued by the National Executive Committee, Canadian Labourn Defense League [no date] [4]
Document 4	Letter to Chas. Wm. Locke, Esq., President B.E.S.L., Bienfait, Sask., from T.M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Labour, 17 October 1931 [5]
Document 5	Draft agreement between mine operators and employees to re-open the mines and return to work, Estevan, 6 October 1931 [6]
Document 6	Letter to T.M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Railways, Labour & Industries, from F.E. Harrison, Western Representative, Canada Department of Labour, 28 September 1931 [7]
Document 7	Letter to G.A. Calvert, Esq., Managing Director, International Clay Products, Ltd., Estevan, SK, from T.M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Railways, Labour & Industries, 22 September 1931 [8]
Document 8	Letter to T.M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Railways, Labour & Industries, from G.A. Calvert, Esq., Managing Director, International Clay Products, Ltd., Estevan, SK, 18 September 1931 [9]
Document 9	Notes “Re: Estevan Coal Strike”, 9 September 1931, by T.M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Railways, Labour & Industries [10]
Document 10	Copy of Telegram Sent to Hon. G.D. Robertson, [Canada] Minister of Labour, Ottawa, from John A. Merkley, Regina, 9 September 1931 [11]
Document 11	Copy of Canadian Pacific Railway Company’s Telegraph Day letter to Jas. Sloan, President Miners Union, Estevan, SK, from Thos. M. Molloy, Deputy Minister of Labour, Regina, SK, 7 September 1931 [12]
Document 12	Newspaper Clipping: Winnipeg Free Press, 1 October 1931, “Estevan’s Black Day” [13]
Document 13	Newspaper Clipping: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 1 October 1931, “The Estevan Fray” [14]
Document 14	Newspaper Clipping: Winnipeg Free Press, 1 October 1931, “Sloan Is Blamed for Estevan Trouble” [15]
Document 15	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post, 30 September 1931, “Twelve Injured Seriously When Police and Miners Wage Battle In Streets” [16]
Document 16	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post, 26 September 1931, “Judge Wylie Delays Probe of Estevan Strike Tangle; Awaits Word From Ottawa” [17]
Document 17	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Star, 24 September 1931, “Operators Ask for Police Protection; Will Use Any Labor” [18]
Document 18	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post, 17 September 1931, “Mineworkers Union Scores Efforts to Break Coal Strike” [19]
Document 19	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Star, 15 September 1931, “Recruit 600 Men to Stop Sask. Strike” [20]
Document 20	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post – Noon Edition, 8 September 1931, “South Mine Area Workers Stage Strike” [21]
Document 21	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Star, 8 September 1931, “Alberta Agitators Cause of Troubles Officials Declare” [22]
Document 22	Newspaper Clipping: Estevan Mercury, 3 September 1931, “Molloy Will Study Situation In Mines” [23]
Document 23	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Star, 24 October 1931, “Complaints of Miners Heard” [24]
Document 24	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post, 14 October 1931, “Complaints of Bienfait Mine Workers Heard” [25]
Document 25	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post, 13 October 1931, “Tells Probe Miners’ Pay Is Not High” [26]
Document 26	Newspaper Clipping: Regina Leader-Post, 9 October 1931, “Head of Mine Tells of Deep Seam Plight” [27]
Document 27	Newspaper Clipping: Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 6 October 1931, “Miners Describe Their Grievances at Hearing” [28]

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Oral History Project Towards a New Past,
“Documentation of Industrial Unrest in the Estevan-Bienfait Coalfields,
1928-1935.”

Document 28	Tape R-320: Excerpts transcribed from interview with Harry Nicholson, Estevan City Council member at the time of riot. Interviewed 24 August 1973 in Estevan by Larry Johnston [29]
Document 29	Tape R-357: Excerpts transcribed from interview with W.D. McKay, Estevan City Policeman involved in riot. Interviewed 2 September 1973 in Regina by Larry Johnston [30]
Document 30	Tape R-325: Excerpts transcribed from interview with Peter Gembey, miner in Bienfait area at the time of riot. Interviewed 18 July 1973 in Bienfait by Larry Johnston and Ron Adams [31]
Document 31	Tape R-326: Excerpts transcribed from interview with Howard A. Babcock, local resident and mine cook in the 1930s, discussing miners’ working and living conditions, and organization of the miners. Interviewed 19 June 1973 in Regina by Larry Johnston [32]
Document 32	Tape R-326: Excerpts transcribed from interview with Howard A. Babcock, local resident and mine cook in 1930s, discussing actions of the Estevan town council and the police. Interviewed 19 June 1973 in Regina by Larry Johnston [33]

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Newspaper Collection

Document 33

Newspaper Clipping from Micro R-1.160, Reel 7 (1930-1931): Estevan Mercury, 24 September 1931, “The Truth About the Strike in the Bienfait and Estevan Coal Fields,” p. 8 [34]

Estevan Riot 1931: Documentary Evidence

USING DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

The documents listed on this page relate to the Estevan Riot and to labour unrest in the Bienfait and Estevan coal fields in 1931.

The documents are numbered for use with the learning package "Estevan Riot 1931: Weighing the Causes" [1].

Click on a document title to open a document in a new window.

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, R-284: L-M1– Saskatchewan Dept. of Labour, Deputy Minister’s Office – Estevan Bienfait Coal Mine, 1931

Document Number

Document Title

Document 1

Document 2

Document 3

Document 4

Document 5

Document 6

Document 7

Document 8

Document 9

Document 10

Document 11

Document 12

Document 13

Document 14

Document 15

Document 16

Document 17

Document 18

Document 19

Document 20

Document 21

Document 22

Document 23

Document 24

Document 25

Document 26

Document 27

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Oral History Project Towards a New Past,“Documentation of Industrial Unrest in the Estevan-Bienfait Coalfields,1928-1935.”

Document 28

Document 29

Document 30

Document 31

Document 32

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Newspaper Collection

Document 33

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, R-284: L-M1– Saskatchewan Dept. of Labour,
Deputy Minister’s Office – Estevan Bienfait Coal Mine, 1931

Document
Number

Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Oral History Project Towards a New Past,
“Documentation of Industrial Unrest in the Estevan-Bienfait Coalfields,
1928-1935.”