NINE decades after it culminated in fatal violence, one of the Hunter's most infamous cases of industrial conflict will be remembered in a free exhibition.
The December 16 1929 Rothbury Riot has inspired an exhibition at Cessnock Library that charts the events, the lead-up to them and how they have echoed through the region with enduring consequences.
Difficult economic times led to a lockout at the Rothbury mine outside Cessnock in 1929 as the Great Depression rolled on.
The dispute over wages led to the mine's closure. It reopened eight months later using non-union or scab labour despite union opposition, sparking a 10,000-strong protest.
Miner Norman Brown was killed by police fire as officers attempted to break up the protest, with many more injured. The miners accepted a pay cut in May 1930 and returned to work.
The late Jim Comerford, a 15-year-old pit boy during the riot who later became a long-time Miners' Federation official, will also be subject of a talk during the exhibition's run until September 13.
Historian Barbara Heaton, who has written a biography of Mr Comerford entitled Jim Comerford: Working Class Warrior, will discuss the process of telling his story and its challenges.
Cessnock City Council library services co-ordinator, Rose-marie Walters said the book "describes the social history of the community and cultural life of the northern coalfields, which was unmatched in its heyday."
Ms Heaton will speak free at Cessnock Library from 5pm on September 12.
