Generally, I have not considered graves to be “labour landmarks” in this study. William Davis’s grave, however, is an exception. Davis’s grave, in the years following his death, became an important site of collective memory for workers in New Waterford. [1] Davis’s grave, and the practices that surrounded it, reveal the layers of meaning that Davis’s death has had for the community. On the first anniversary of his death, local miners refused to attend work. This became the tradition of “Davis Day” in the coal communities of Cape Breton.
At first, this holiday was intended as a memorial celebration for William Davis, and the first few years witnessed poor attendance due to labour disputes and, according to Christina Lamey “tensions between left-wing radicals and moderates.” [2] In these early celebrations of Davis Day, the miners would march from the ecumenical services in the morning to Davis’s grave in Scotchtown. The grave is a white granite marker and includes the inscription “In memory of William Davis, shot in riot at New Waterford power plant, June 11, 1925, Aged 37 years, Asleep in Jesus.” [3] According to Davis’s daughter, her mother paid for the headstone herself. She asserts, “[she] paid $30 a month for that headstone. Every month till it was paid for. It cost $130. And she bought it from John D. Steele in North Sydney.” [4] The grave marker indicates a more personal relationship to William Davis than the labour landmark at Davis Square. The “riot” at Waterford Lake is mentioned, but there is not any wider inscribed consideration of the labour movement. There is, however, the image of three unbroken links of chain above the inscription; this image is very similar to that used by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which is a fraternal order. In the years immediately following his death, the events of Davis Day were strongly tied to the specific memory of William Davis and the conflict at Waterford Lake. The grave also held significance for the class memories of coal miners in New Waterford, as it represented an integral part of their local history. This significance was expressed through the Davis Day parades. Davis’s grave commemorated a series of local, personal, and familial connections to the man who had been killed, as well as the importance of the class struggle in 1925.
In 1938, Davis Day was renamed Miners’ Memorial Day. [5] This change expanded the meaning of the day to include the memory and commemoration of all miners killed in UMW District 26 mines. The decline in attendance numbers at the Davis Day celebrations was one reason for this decision. Although the Miners’ Memorial Day services and parade in 1940 were impressively attended, there was no mention of William Davis in newspaper coverage of the events. The headline of the Sydney Post Record the next day read, “Princess Local Members Attend Memorial Day Gathering to Honor Industry’s Dead.” [6] These services in North Sydney were specifically dedicated to the memory of all miners who had been killed in work-related incidents. This change of itinerary is telling. The earlier celebrations of Davis Day were associated primarily with the specific memory of William Davis and the eruption of violence in the struggle at Waterford Lake. After Davis Day was switched to Miners’ Memorial Day, which generalized the purpose of the holiday, participants felt that the Miners’ Monument was more representative of workers as a whole. This reflects the attempt to bury the memory of conflict in favour of a more generalized tribute to the death of coal miners. This generalization might also make sense from a union-building perspective.
Miners’ Memorial Day was re-named Davis Day in 1974. Interestingly, this occurred at a time when the future of the Cape Breton coal industry was once more in doubt. The release of the 1966 Donald Commission, which recommended the slow shutdown of Cape Breton coal mines under a new crown corporation that would replace the existing private ownership of the industry, had shaken the community. On Miners’ Memorial Day, 1966, UMW President Bill Marsh lambasted the findings of the report and called for the modernization of existing mines and the opening of a new mine at Lingan. [7] Themes of struggle also began creeping back into local newspaper coverage of Miners’ Memorial Day in the decade before the name change. One editorial from 1969 begins: “It’s many years since the baseball bats came swinging from the sidings, since the angry roar went up on Plummer Avenue, and since they buried William Davis.” [8] At a Memorial Day ceremony in 1972, Rev. Dr. C.M. Nicholson, who was born in Cape Breton before becoming a leader in the United Church and an outspoken proponent of the social gospel, remarked that the coal communities of Cape Breton “have been the victims of big business and corporations . . . to help lay foundations for their empires in larger centres and even outside of the country.” [9]
The transition back to Davis Day came at a time when increased support for workers’ issues and industrial struggle was once more required of the workers of Cape Breton. This shift re-asserted the story of William Davis and placed workers’ struggles back at the forefront of collective memory in New Waterford and the other coal communities in Cape Breton.
Footnotes
[1] For the circumstances surrounding William Davis’s death, please see the “William Davis Monument, New Waterford” tab.
[2] Christina M. Lamey, “Davis Day through the Years: A Cape Breton Coalmining Tradition,” Nova Scotia Historical Review, vol. 16, no. 2 (1996), 26.
[3] The age of Davis at the time of his death is incorrect on the gravestone. Davis had just turned 38 when he was killed. MacGillivray, “William Davis,” http://www.biographi.ca/
[4] “Edith Pelley, William Davis’s Daughter,” Cape Breton’s Magazine, vol. 60 (1992).
[5] Lamey, “Davis Day through the Years,” 27-28.
[6] Sydney Record, 12 June 1940.
[7] Cape Breton Post, 13 June 1966.
[8] Cape Breton Post, 11 June 1969.
[9] Charles Anderson, Garfield Bryce, John B. Corston et. al. Clarence MacKinnon Nicholson an intimate profile of his achievement, thought and spiritual leadership (Hantsport: Lancelot Press, 1981), 76; Cape Breton Post, 13 June 1972.
At first, this holiday was intended as a memorial celebration for William Davis, and the first few years witnessed poor attendance due to labour disputes and, according to Christina Lamey “tensions between left-wing radicals and moderates.” [2] In these early celebrations of Davis Day, the miners would march from the ecumenical services in the morning to Davis’s grave in Scotchtown. The grave is a white granite marker and includes the inscription “In memory of William Davis, shot in riot at New Waterford power plant, June 11, 1925, Aged 37 years, Asleep in Jesus.” [3] According to Davis’s daughter, her mother paid for the headstone herself. She asserts, “[she] paid $30 a month for that headstone. Every month till it was paid for. It cost $130. And she bought it from John D. Steele in North Sydney.” [4] The grave marker indicates a more personal relationship to William Davis than the labour landmark at Davis Square. The “riot” at Waterford Lake is mentioned, but there is not any wider inscribed consideration of the labour movement. There is, however, the image of three unbroken links of chain above the inscription; this image is very similar to that used by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which is a fraternal order. In the years immediately following his death, the events of Davis Day were strongly tied to the specific memory of William Davis and the conflict at Waterford Lake. The grave also held significance for the class memories of coal miners in New Waterford, as it represented an integral part of their local history. This significance was expressed through the Davis Day parades. Davis’s grave commemorated a series of local, personal, and familial connections to the man who had been killed, as well as the importance of the class struggle in 1925.
In 1938, Davis Day was renamed Miners’ Memorial Day. [5] This change expanded the meaning of the day to include the memory and commemoration of all miners killed in UMW District 26 mines. The decline in attendance numbers at the Davis Day celebrations was one reason for this decision. Although the Miners’ Memorial Day services and parade in 1940 were impressively attended, there was no mention of William Davis in newspaper coverage of the events. The headline of the Sydney Post Record the next day read, “Princess Local Members Attend Memorial Day Gathering to Honor Industry’s Dead.” [6] These services in North Sydney were specifically dedicated to the memory of all miners who had been killed in work-related incidents. This change of itinerary is telling. The earlier celebrations of Davis Day were associated primarily with the specific memory of William Davis and the eruption of violence in the struggle at Waterford Lake. After Davis Day was switched to Miners’ Memorial Day, which generalized the purpose of the holiday, participants felt that the Miners’ Monument was more representative of workers as a whole. This reflects the attempt to bury the memory of conflict in favour of a more generalized tribute to the death of coal miners. This generalization might also make sense from a union-building perspective.
Miners’ Memorial Day was re-named Davis Day in 1974. Interestingly, this occurred at a time when the future of the Cape Breton coal industry was once more in doubt. The release of the 1966 Donald Commission, which recommended the slow shutdown of Cape Breton coal mines under a new crown corporation that would replace the existing private ownership of the industry, had shaken the community. On Miners’ Memorial Day, 1966, UMW President Bill Marsh lambasted the findings of the report and called for the modernization of existing mines and the opening of a new mine at Lingan. [7] Themes of struggle also began creeping back into local newspaper coverage of Miners’ Memorial Day in the decade before the name change. One editorial from 1969 begins: “It’s many years since the baseball bats came swinging from the sidings, since the angry roar went up on Plummer Avenue, and since they buried William Davis.” [8] At a Memorial Day ceremony in 1972, Rev. Dr. C.M. Nicholson, who was born in Cape Breton before becoming a leader in the United Church and an outspoken proponent of the social gospel, remarked that the coal communities of Cape Breton “have been the victims of big business and corporations . . . to help lay foundations for their empires in larger centres and even outside of the country.” [9]
The transition back to Davis Day came at a time when increased support for workers’ issues and industrial struggle was once more required of the workers of Cape Breton. This shift re-asserted the story of William Davis and placed workers’ struggles back at the forefront of collective memory in New Waterford and the other coal communities in Cape Breton.
Footnotes
[1] For the circumstances surrounding William Davis’s death, please see the “William Davis Monument, New Waterford” tab.
[2] Christina M. Lamey, “Davis Day through the Years: A Cape Breton Coalmining Tradition,” Nova Scotia Historical Review, vol. 16, no. 2 (1996), 26.
[3] The age of Davis at the time of his death is incorrect on the gravestone. Davis had just turned 38 when he was killed. MacGillivray, “William Davis,” http://www.biographi.ca/
[4] “Edith Pelley, William Davis’s Daughter,” Cape Breton’s Magazine, vol. 60 (1992).
[5] Lamey, “Davis Day through the Years,” 27-28.
[6] Sydney Record, 12 June 1940.
[7] Cape Breton Post, 13 June 1966.
[8] Cape Breton Post, 11 June 1969.
[9] Charles Anderson, Garfield Bryce, John B. Corston et. al. Clarence MacKinnon Nicholson an intimate profile of his achievement, thought and spiritual leadership (Hantsport: Lancelot Press, 1981), 76; Cape Breton Post, 13 June 1972.