Fannie Never Flinched: "Labor War"

by Mary Cronk Farrell
This nonfiction book chronicles the life Fannie Sellins, a garment worker and labor organizer who was tragically murdered on August 26, 1919.

This list covers "Labor War."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
20 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. resource
    a new or reserve supply that can be drawn upon when needed
    Still, coal miners in the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas river valleys, a region rich with natural resources, seemed stuck in poverty.
  2. bluff
    a high steep bank
    Natrona sat on the western bluff of the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh.
  3. bustle
    move or cause to move energetically or busily
    The town bustled with Italian, Polish, and Slavic immigrant families who raised flocks of ducks and geese on the river much as they had in the Old Country.
  4. derogatory
    expressive of low opinion
    Wealthier native-born Americans in Allegheny County gave the place the derogatory name Ducktown.
  5. prejudice
    a partiality preventing objective consideration of an issue
    Despite prejudice, the immigrants exhibited a pioneering spirit, building ethnic churches, grocery stores, and fraternal halls.
  6. pioneer
    take the lead or initiative in
    Despite prejudice, the immigrants exhibited a pioneering spirit, building ethnic churches, grocery stores, and fraternal halls.
  7. fraternal
    of or relating to a society of usually men
    Despite prejudice, the immigrants exhibited a pioneering spirit, building ethnic churches, grocery stores, and fraternal halls.
  8. privy
    a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
    But their well-tended vegetable gardens, small frame houses, and privies were blackened with soot from coal-burning steel plants nearby.
  9. maim
    injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration
    On payday near the entrances to the mines, lines of maimed and debilitated workers begged for handouts.
  10. debilitate
    make weak
    On payday near the entrances to the mines, lines of maimed and debilitated workers begged for handouts.
  11. shaft
    a long vertical passage sunk into the earth, as for a mine
    Death and injury waited in the dark shafts where rock fractured and crashed down without warning.
  12. procession
    the action of a group moving ahead in regular formation
    They waited with their mothers, hearts pounding, as men came up the street carrying the limp body. Covered with coal dust, miners’ faces all looked alike. At which house would the silent procession stop?
  13. dismal
    causing dejection
    But that’s not why union people called it Black Valley. The dismal name came from the bleak opportunities workers faced in the region, where iron, coal, and steel companies had busted unions for two decades.
  14. bleak
    offering little or no hope
    But that’s not why union people called it Black Valley. The dismal name came from the bleak opportunities workers faced in the region, where iron, coal, and steel companies had busted unions for two decades.
  15. entitled
    qualified for by right according to law
    Their children were entitled to a proper education and a balanced diet.
  16. flinch
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    Everyone in Black Valley tensed, like soldiers waiting for battle. Fannie didn’t flinch.
  17. heckle
    challenge aggressively
    She tried to keep peace while the miners and guards heckled one another and often came to blows.
  18. scuffle
    disorderly fighting
    During one scuffle, a company guard assaulted Fannie.
  19. thrash
    give a beating to
    Company guards threatened, thrashed, and sometimes shot striking miners.
  20. suit
    be agreeable or acceptable to
    The sheriff and local judges enforced the law only when it suited the coal companies.
Created on Tue Apr 19 09:21:22 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Apr 25 13:30:59 EDT 2022)

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