Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message

Globe, Arizona Photographs 1905-1935 (bulk 1916-1920)

CP SPC 9

Historical Note

Silver mining began in the Pinal Mountains in the late 1860s and the first of the claims referencing the "Globe Ledge" were filed in 1873. In 1875, mineral rights to the area were removed from the San Carlos Indian Reservation and transferred to public lands, allowing the formation of the Globe Mining District. The townsite for "Globe City" was laid out in July of 1876 and Globe became the seat of newly formed Gila County in February of 1881. Due to its relatively remote location and proximity to the San Carlos Indian Reservation, Globe remained a "Wild West" town, complete with stagecoach robberies, lynchings, murders, and violent conflict with the Apache. Indeed, the last legal hanging in Arizona took place in Globe in 1936.

Copper mining eclipsed silver mining as Globe's most profitable industry in the 1880s and silver mining had virtually ceased by 1887. The Old Dominion Copper Company established itself in the city in 1882, followed by the Inspiration Copper Company and the Miami Copper Company. The Miami Copper Company established Miami, Arizona as a company town in 1907. Miners began to unionize in the late 1890s and early 1900s. By the time the United States entered World War I in 1917, miners were split between such radical unions as the Industrial Workers of the World (known popularly as the "Wobblies") and more moderate unions like the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers. A number of strikes, inspired in part by increased patriotism, preceded a mass walkout involving approximately 2,000 workers from both radical and moderate unions in mid-1917. Governor Thomas Campbell sent in Federal troops (the National Guard being deployed), made mass arrests, and brought in replacement workers from Texas, but production of copper slowed dramatically. The unions and the government finally reached a compromise in late 1917 and the miners returned to work.

Industry in Globe suffered during the Great Depression. The Old Dominion Copper Company closed in 1931 and many workers began commuting to nearby Miami to find work or became unemployed. Globe's economy never recovered, and it remains a small and relatively isolated town.

Scope and Content Note

This collection houses twelve silver gelatin photographic prints depicting buildings and people in Globe, Arizona, including a Cirkut panorama printed as a mosaic.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Globe, Arizona Photographs, CP SPC 9, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

Archives and Special Collections acquired these images in 1993.

Container List

1			Old Dominion Mine; Globe, Arizona, 1916 March 13 (Black and White Positive; 8" x 10")

3			Old Dominion Mine; Globe, Arizona, 1905 (Black and White Positive; 8" x 10")

5			Miner's Union Hall; Globe, Arizona, 1935 (Black and White Positive; 8" x 10")

10			Cityscape; Globe, Arizona, circa 1920