Editing Hazleton, Pennsylvania (section)

===20th and 21st centuries===
[[File:Broad Street, looking west, Hazelton, Pa (63719).jpg|thumb|An early 20th century [[postcard]] of Hazleton]] 
[[Image:Altamont2.jpg|thumb|Altamont Hotel in Hazleton]]
[[Image:8 West Broad Hazelton LuzCo PA.JPG|thumb|[[Markle Banking & Trust Company Building]] in Hazleton]]
Leading into the 20th century, Hazleton's population drastically changed. The "boom period" in population was 1885 to 1920.  In 1860, there were only about one thousand people in Hazleton, but by 1880, there were nearly seven thousand people, which quickly became thirty-two thousand by 1920. After the [[Anthracite coal strike of 1902|1900 and 1902 anthracite coal strikes]], mine workers won some improvements to their working conditions, which they were able to build upon in ensuing contracts. The diversification of the city's economy stabilized the population by allowing miners to establish families in the area, with women and children often working in silk or shirt manufacturing for supplemental wages.<ref name=":4" />

The Duplan Silk Mill was expanded in 1908 and became one of the largest and most productive silk mills in the country, employing between 1,800 and 2,000 area residents and with an annual payroll of $5 million. The mill produced about 25 million yards of cloth per year.<ref name=":4" /><ref>[http://www.hazletonhistory.8m.com/duplan.htm Greater Hazleton Historical Society<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216010639/http://www.hazletonhistory.8m.com/duplan.htm|date=2007-12-16}}</ref> In 1913, 1,200 silk workers, mostly young women, went on strike at the Duplan silk mill and voted to join the [[Industrial Workers of the World]]. The strike was overshadowed by the contemporaneous [[1913 Paterson silk strike|Patterson Silk Strike]], and failed to achieve momentum.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stepenoff |first=Bonnie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p504nR3cKXcC&q=hazleton |title=Their Fathers' Daughters: Silk Mill Workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 1880-1960 |date=1999 |publisher=Susquehanna University Press |isbn=978-1-57591-028-4 |pages=81–82 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lotorto |first=Alex |title=Wobblies in the Northeast PA Silk Mills |url=http://www.iww570.org/2014/05/wobblies-in-northeast-pa-silk-mills.html |access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref>

The first Hazleton Public Library opened in 1907. In 1912, a new library opened on Church and Green streets. This building was donated by independent coal operator John Markle and is still in use today as the Hazleton Area Public Library's children's department.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://hazletonlibrary.org/about/history |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=hazletonlibrary.org}}</ref>

Coal production began to decline in the late 1920s, but the mining industry still employed nearly 20,000 men at that time.<ref name=":4" /> In 1926, 900 miners at the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company initiated a [[wildcat strike]] over a pay dispute. They were ordered back to work by the District 7 president of the UMWA, who insisted that they negotiate the dispute through the [[Anthracite Board of Conciliation]] as outlined in their contract.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 November 1926 |title=900 MINERS END STRIKE.; Hazleton (Pa.) Men Follow Advice of Mine Union Official. |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1926/11/27/100011614.html?zoom=14.72 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |pages=5 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The population peaked in 1940 at 38,000. With increased population came increased business, from downtown storefronts to large campuses like Penn State Hazleton.<ref>{{Cite book|title=We Were Here Once: Successes, Mistakes, & Calamaties in Hazleton Area History |first=L. A. |last=Tarone |date=2004|publisher=Citizen Publishing |isbn=0-9776684-0-1|location=Hazleton, Pennsylvania |pages=6–7 |oclc=76906868}}</ref>

In 1941, UMWA President [[John L. Lewis]] revoked the charter of the UMWA's District 7 local in response to a 27-day work stoppage by 20,000 miners in protest of dues increases and other union policies. The local was administered by a provisional government for some time and had its constitution suspended.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 October 1941 |title=TAKES AWAY CHARTER OF COAL STRIKE LOCAL; U.M.W. Ousts Hazleton Staff, Puts in Interim Regime |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1941/10/10/87681293.html?zoom=15.69 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |pages=11 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

One of the 14 games between [[Israel Albert Horowitz|I.A. Horowitz]] and [[Samuel Reshevsky]] during the 1941 [[US Chess Championship]] was held in Hazleton. The result was a draw.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 May 1941 |title=Split Point at Hazleton |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1941/05/28/85501647.html?zoom=15.74 |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The remaining games were held in [[Brooklyn]], Philadelphia, [[Lakewood Township, New Jersey|Lakewood, New Jersey]] and [[Binghamton, New York]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 May 1941 |title=RESHEVSKY BEGINS TITLE CHESS TODAY; Will Meet Horowitz in First of Fourteen Games for U.S. Championship |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1941/05/04/85488447.html?zoom=15.73 |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1946, local milk producers initiated a [[capital strike]], closing facilities and halting the delivery of milk to 100,000 residents in the region in protest of [[Office of Price Administration]] policy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 March 1946 |title=Hazleton Milk 'Strike' Still On |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1946/03/05/88337269.html?zoom=15.55 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |pages=17 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Before [[World War II]], anthracite coal flourished as a major provider of fuel for the nation. After the war, the demand for coal began to decline as natural gas and electricity became preferred power sources; coal became a less needed commodity. Deep mining, the predominant method of coal extraction in the region, also proved costly and vulnerable to flooding. In 1947, 22 consecutive days of rain flooded many Hazleton area mines and reduced year-to-date anthracite production by up to 35% below normal levels.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 July 1947 |title=Series of 22 Rainy Days Broken in Hazleton, Pa. |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1947/07/25/87788475.html?zoom=15.75 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |pages=9 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Hurricanes [[Hurricane Hazel|Hazel]] and [[Hurricane Diane|Diane]], in 1954 and 1955, also devastated the local mining industry. They flooded the mines and brought an end to Hazleton's deep mining. Unemployment soared, reaching 25-30%. The population began to emigrate at a rate of 1,000 per year.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=21 January 1964 |title=Hazleton, Pa., Defeating Poverty By Aggressive Plan of Self-Help |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1964/01/21/97160829.html?zoom=15.92 |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> While most of the region's deep mines never reopened, strip mining would continue as long as it was economically advantageous. A new era was about to be born: the era of business and industry.<ref name=":1" />

The garment industry thrived and was invested in by New York [[mobster]] [[Albert Anastasia]].<ref>"Albert Anastasia Part 1". FBI Records: The Vault. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 30 December 2011.</ref>

In 1947, [[Autolite]] Corporation was looking to expand operations in the [[Eastern United States|East]] and had been looking into Hazleton. Officials from Autolite came to the area and surveyed the land. In their report, they noted that Hazleton was a "mountain wilderness" with no major water route, rail route, trucking route, or airport.

Local leaders sought to address these deficiencies by soliciting donations from the public to subsidize the establishment of the $3,500,000 Autolite plant. They promised the Autolite Corporation $500,000 and were able to raise $659,000. The initiative was supported by local businessmen, service clubs, and the UMWA. The Hazleton Industrial Development Corporation also took out loans totaling $700,000 to fund the construction of the plant.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 October 1949 |title=FADING CITY 'BUYS' ANOTHER INDUSTRY; Hazleton, Pa., Dedicates New Plant Brought in by Free Offerings of Citizens |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1949/10/19/84226420.html?zoom=15.73 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |pages=30 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1959, a fire at the Gary Hotel killed six people. The hotel, built in 1884, burned down costing around $200,000 in damages.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 March 1959 |title=Hazleton Fire Toll Now Six |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1959/03/08/89156971.html?zoom=16 |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The New York Times |pages=35 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Public investment in attracting businesses and diversifying the economy continued throughout the 20th century. CAN DO (Community Area New Development Organization) was formally organized in 1956 by founder Dr. [[Edgar L. Dessen]]. CAN DO raised money through their "Dime A Week" campaign, in which area residents were encouraged to put a dime on their sidewalk each week to be collected by CAN DO. They also solicited donations from businesses and utilities and sold [[municipal bond]]s. The company raised over $250,000 and was able to purchase over {{convert|500|acre|km2}} of land, which was converted into an industrial park on the western edge of the city.<ref name=":5" />

Because of CAN-DO's efforts, Hazleton was given the [[All-America City Award]] in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All-America City Winners |url=https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/america-city-award/past-winners/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=National Civic League}}</ref> Hazleton's economy is now based largely on manufacturing and shipping, facilitated by the relative closeness to [[Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania|Interstates 80]] and [[Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania|81]]. Five [[List of State Routes in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania highways]] also pass through the Hazleton area: [[Pennsylvania Route 309]], [[Pennsylvania Route 93]], [[Pennsylvania Route 924]], [[Pennsylvania Route 424]], and [[Pennsylvania Route 940]].

The Hazleton Area Public Library opened a new building at Church and Maple Streets in 1969, where it remains to this day.<ref name=":3" />

In 1997, the IWW returned to the Hazleton area in an effort to organize student workers at the Keystone Job Corps Center, but they found little success.{{sfn|Tarone|2004|p=65}}

An article published in December 2002 by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'', "Letter from Pennsylvania: A town in need of a tomorrow", reported on Hazleton's shortcomings. It was criticized by local politicians and business leaders.

On September 11, 2004, the Hazleton campaign hall of the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]] was firebombed, damaging the front of the building and burning campaign literature.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Kent |date=14 September 2004 |title=Fire damages Socialist Workers' base: Candidates from the party called on the public to condemn the suspected arson attack against their headquarters on Wyoming Street in Hazleton |url=https://standardspeaker.newspapers.com/image/503941632/?terms=Fire%20damages%20Socialist%20Workers%27%20base%3A%20Candidates%20the%20party%20called%20on%20the%20public%20condemn%20the%20suspected%20arson%20attack%20against%20their%20headquarters%20on%20Wyoming%20Street%20Hazleton.&match=1 |url-access=subscription |work=Hazleton Standard-Speaker |pages=1}}</ref> The building's books were destroyed by smoke damage. A rally held in response to the attack was attended by the Pennsylvania Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs as well as local religious leaders and the Spanish-language media. An executive from the [[International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers|IBEW]] local 1319 in Wilkes-Barre visited the hall and made a contribution to the rebuilding effort.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dookhun |first1=Ved |last2=Sandler |first2=Norton |date=28 September 2004 |title=Protest firebombings of socialist campaign hall, café in Pennsylvania |url=https://www.themilitant.com/2004/6835/683501.html |work=The Militant}}</ref>