Joseph Jock Yablonski

Nathan Reese and Darrell Bullock
State Standards Addressed:
Historical Analysis and Skills Development, 8.1.12, Grade 12
C. Evaluate Historical Interpretation of Events
• This standard addresses the impact of opinions on the perception of facts and
multiple points of view. The students will be given articles written by different
news sources from different points in time about the same event. The students will
also be told to consider whether a source of information may be biased and asked
how they think perceptions of an event may change over time.
D. Synthesize Historical Research
• This standard addresses using primary and secondary sources to learn about a
historical event and questioning whether the sources are credible or not. The
students will use newspaper and magazine articles as primary sources and will be
asked whether they think they are reliable sources of information.
Pennsylvania History, 8.2.12, Grade 12
B. Identify and evaluate primary documents, material artifacts and historic sites important in
Pennsylvania history from 1890 to present.
• The students will be shown an image of the Pennsylvania historical marker
dedicated to Jock Yablonski.
D. Identify and evaluate conflict and cooperation among social groups and organizations in
Pennsylvania history from 1890 to Present.
• The students wi11leam about the conflicts of policy within the United Mine
Workers and why they led to Yablonski running against Boyle for the presidency.
Lesson Objectives:
1. The students willieam about Jock Yablonski and his murderers.
2. The students t will use newspaper articles as great research materials.
3. The students will also use sources, written at different times, about a historical event to
clarify the details of the incident and understand various perspectives.
4. The students will develop thinking and writing skills by incorporating ideas from several
different sources into one short writing assignment.
. Materials:
All of the articles, images and the video clip can be found online
1. A video clip from "Harlan County, U.S.A", a 1976 documentary on coal mining strikes.
The film has a segment from 0:41.10 to 0:49.00 about Jock Yablonski's death andits
surrounding events. The documentary can be found on "Hulu", www.hulu.com. and can
be streamed for free online
2. Images of Jock Yablonski, Tony Boyle and Yablonski's Pennsylvania historical marker
taken from ExplorePahistory.com
3. Articles taken from TIME magazine
a. "Crime: a Deadly Venom", January 19, 1970
b. "Labor: The Fall of Tony Boyle", September 17, 1973
4. Articles taken from The Washington Post
a. "Tony Boyle Wins New Trial in Death ofUMW Insurgent", January 29, 1977
b. "Boyle Murder Trial", January 29, 1978
c. "Pass Testifies Boyle Provided $20,000 for Yablonski's Death", February 3, 1978
5. Article from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
a. "1969 Yablonski Murders Spurred Union Reforms", December 27,2009
When distributing the articles to the class, the articles are to be divided up into packets. They are
separated so each group will get about two pages total to read.
Packet 1: TIME magazine article, "Labor: The Fall of Tony Boyle"
Packet 2: The Washington Post articles
Packet 3: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article up to the subheading "In the Face of
Danger"
Packet 4: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article from "In the Face of Danger" onward
Lesson Activities:
1. Give students the article "Crime: A Deadly Venom", from the January 19, 1970 issue of
Time magazine to read as a homework assignment before the day of the lesson. This
article was written less than a month after the murder, and will let students know about
the event's existence without giving up details about the convictions and trails.
2. At the beginning of the class period, verbally ask the students questions about the article.
The questions should also be written on the board at the front of the classroom or
projected from an overhead so the students can see them visually. Have the students
volunteer to answer the questions. The questions should include who they think may have
been responsible for the murders, and whether they feel that TIME put any sort of bias
into the article, as to convince the reader that a certain party was or was not responsible.
Also ask the students if they think that articles·from national magazines such as TIME
and newspapers are credible sources of information.
3. During class, divide the students up into groups of three or four persons. Distribute an
article packet to each group. It would be best to have at least two or three copies of each
packet distributed throughout the classroom so more than one group has a given set of
articles. Also, pass out images of Yablonski, Boyle and Yablonski's historical marker
taken from ExplorePahistory.com or project them at the front ofthe classroom. Have the
groups of students discuss the articles with each other for about ten to fifteen minutes.
4. After the students have time to read and discuss the articles in groups, have a class
discussion. First, ask the groups with the earliest articles, about Boyle being arrested,
"Labor: The Fall of Tony Boyle", to describe what they read and how it related to the
homework reading. Then ask the groups who had the articles about Boyle's trials, from
The Washington Post, to describe and relate their readings. This would be followed by
the last two groups with the split article from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Make sure to
instruct the students to take notes on the other groups' findings because they will need it
later to complete an assignment. Make sure to address that fact that the students were
only able to fully understand the events that transpired because they heard information .
from several sources. If they were only able to read one or two of the articles, they would
have missed out on important details and had some confusion.
5. After the class discussion, show the students the video clip from the 1976 documentary,
"Harlan County, U.S.A" as a visual aid to their lesson.
Assessment:
1. Drawing from the infonnation learned from the periodical articles and video clip, have
students write their own one to two page articles based on how they may have appeared
in their own local newspapers. The students can write the article as if it was printed in the
past or present day and focus on whatever aspect of the events they want to, but they are
to draw on infonnation from at least three of the sources used in class. Make sure the
students date and title the article and cite themselves as its author.
Fact Sheet
Joseph "Jock" Yablonski was a member of the United Mine Workers and a resident of
Clarksville, Pennsylvania. He was a strong labor leader and fought for the rights of miners
throughout the nation. During Yablonski's lifetime, local and district union leaders were
appointed to their positions by the president of the union. Yablonski called for the entire miners'
union to be democratized, and wanted all of the official positions to be decided by the votes of
union members. He also pushed for more strict health and safety standards to protect his fellow
miners. Jock Yablonski was infuriated when a West Virginia mine exploded in November of
1968, killing seventy eight miners. Tony Boyle, the sitting U.M.W. president at the time, was
already viewed as being a stronger supporter of mine owners than the miners before the
explosion, but when he spoke about the disaster shortly after its occurrence, he showed little
concern or sympathy for the miners. He put no blame on the mine owners for allowing such a
catastrophe to happen due to unsafe working conditions. Instead, he simply stated that mining is
a dangerous job, and that the miners take the risk everyday they go into the mine of not coming
back out.
Yablonski, feeling that change and a new union leader was needed, decided to challenge
Boyle for the position ofU.M.W. president in the election of 1969. He ran on a platform firmly
supporting miners' rights and criticized Boyle for his loyalty to the owners. Yablonski lost the
election by a landslide, but was suspicious about its results. During his campaigning, Yablonski
felt that he had the overwhelming support of the union's members and refused to believe that he
lost to Tony Boyle by a nearly 2-to-l vote margin. Yablonski challenged the election and called
for a vote recount, feeling that the election's results may have been fixed in favor of Boyle.
Shortly after Jock Yablonski called for an investigation ofthe election, the bodies of
Yablonski, his wife and his daughter were discovered in their home by their son. On December
31, 1969, Jock Yablonski and his family were shot and killed by three men. It was later
discovered that Tony Boyle, the man who Yablonski ran against, hired the hitmen. Boyle, the
three men and several go-betweens were later found guilty of murder. A total of six men were
given life sentences for their crimes. Five of those then, including Tony Boyle, have since died in
prison and only one is still alive behind bars. More information can be found out about
Yablonski, his activities as a member of the United Mine Workers, and the actions surrounding
his murder in the TIME, Washington Post, and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review articles, as well as
from the video clip.
Annotated Bibliography:
"Pass Testifies Boyle Provided $20,000 for Yablonski Death." The Washington Post, 3 February
1978, sec. All.
This article briefly describes the amount of money that was supposedly paid as part of the
assassination contract. Albert Pass, one of the conspirators in the murder describes the payment
plan that Tony Boyle had to put in place. We found this article accurate in the sense it was from
the time period of the murder trial, giving good historical insight. The article is also from a
reputable newspaper.
"Tony Boyle Wins New Trial in Death ofUMW Insurgent." The Washington Post, 29 January
1977, sec. A4.
The news article relates to the new trial Tony Boyle was awarded in response to Boyle not
having a witness to testify on his behalf. Unlike the other articles that are described, this one
gives crucial insight into what Boyle was feeling at the time he was granted a new trail. This
article strictly relates to the trial as well as the individuals that Boyle feels will help him to be
proven innocent. We felt this article was a good source because it gave us insight into Boyle's
point of view.
"1969 Yablonski murders spurred union reforms." Pittsburgh Tribune- Review, 27 December
2009.
Unlike the other articles dating back to the sixties and seventies, this article is more of a recap
into the trial and findings. This article was very detailed and offered a good historical review of
the accounts as well as dates and members involved. What made this article stand out from the
rest was the fact some parts of it demonstrated oral histories of how individuals might have felt
at the time. For the most part it gave us firsthand accounts and was very detailed in how the
murder took place.
"Labor: The Fall of Tony Boyle." TIME, 17 September 1973.
TIME takes a more storyline approach and describes the events minute by minute and is able to
give good supporting evidence as well. The article seems to mostly focus on Tony Boyle and the
events leading up to his trial. One problem we felt that the article had was the fact it was more of
a story and at some points hard to understand. Overall it's a good informative article and
provides good historical information into the trial of Boyle.
Deadly Venom." TIME, 19 January 1970, sec. Crime.
This article deals strictly on how Jock Yablonski was viewed as an individual and what facts
might have led to his murder. In this article you are able to get both a feel for Jock Yablonski
and Tony Boyle and how they seemed to clash. It also gives a brief overview of his child hood
and how he was able to rise to the position ofpresident ofhis district. Overall we felt this article
could have been more descriptive and possible give some historical dates.
This Marker was dedicated to Joseph "Jock" Yablonski who was appointed president of the United Mine Workers district 5 in 1958. Prats, J.J. "Jospeh "Jock" Yablonski." The Historical Marker database. Ed . Craig Swain . Historical marker database,S May 2006.
Web. 21 Nov. 2010. <http ://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=346>.
Tony Boyle being escorted into a court room to wait arraignment in the murders of the Yablonski family,
picture taken in 1973.
"Picture of tony Boyle." Explore PA History. KDKA-TV ,1973. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
<http://explorepahistory.comldisplayimage.php?imgld=4828>.
Jospeh Yablonski center visiting mine workers in Pennsylvania 1969 "Jock Yablonski visiting coal miners 1969." Explore PA His/ory. WITF INC, 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
<http://explorepahistory.comldisplayimage.php?imgld=4827>.