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In 1912, the Denver Post listed him as one of the people listed in affidavits as being <br />engaged in pro -union disturbances relating to the strike (along with his mother-in-law <br />and other Thirlaway relatives). And during the 1910-1914 strike, Martin Black was a <br />labor organizer who worked for Edward Doyle in Denver along with John Ramsey. Doyle <br />was Secretary -Treasurer of District #15 of the United Mine Workers of America and his <br />papers are today housed at the Denver Public Library. According to the April 21, 1914, <br />Denver Post, Doyle, Ramsey, and Black sent hundreds of telegrams to President <br />Woodrow Wilson, senators and congressmen from Colorado, labor leaders, and others <br />to inform them of the Ludlow Massacre. The telegrams show the extent of the role <br />played by Doyle's office in telling the country what had transpired at Ludlow. The <br />telegram sent to the UMWA president stated, "For God's sake urge the chief executive <br />of this nation to use his power to protect the helpless men, women and children from <br />being slaughtered in southern Colorado.... Miners of the entire state growing <br />desperate. Have wired local unions to call special meetings and hold themselves subject <br />to call to defend themselves." <br />The following photo is from the collection of the Denver Public Library. The photo is <br />described in the DPL catalog as follows: "Martin Black, bookkeeper for mining labor <br />union organizer Ed Doyles [sic] (United Mine Workers of America), reads a ledger in the <br />DX office, in Louisville, Boulder County, Colorado." <br />Martin Black was also very involved in the Louisville community. In late October 1915, <br />he was one of the ten "special police" that the Mayor and town council appointed in the <br />aftermath of the killing of Louisville's town marshal, Victor Helburg, by a street peddler. <br />It is believed that the group may have been formed to look for the assailant. <br />And in this baseball photo, he is shown as the second man from the right. Bert Niehoff, <br />who was from Louisville and who became a Major League baseball player, is shown in <br />the photo as being fifth from the right. The photo is believed to have been taken after <br />Niehoff had achieved success in the Major League and returned to visit his family in <br />Louisville. <br />5 <br />