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Just 100 years ago there was a small war going on in the coal mining areas of southwestern West Virginia. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) had yet to become a presence in the state. In the following decades, they were a force to be reckoned with.
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Both my grandads played a part, but I only met one before he died and he didn't tell me anything of it. What I know is 2nd hand from relatives & old timers.
Most small towns in southern W Va are named for the mine that was or still is operating there. The company ran the town
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Most small towns in southern W Va are named for the mine that was or still is operating there. The company ran the town
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Miners & family lived in company houses, bought goods at company store, with company scrip instead of cash. If laid off, they packed up & tried to find where one was hiring. Travel was by train mostly as good roads barely existed.
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Right after WWI there was an increased pool of men to work. Conditions were awful & death or maiming was a daily risk. Union men came into the area to organize. It was a time & place where they were needed. Men caught joining or recruiting were fired.
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West Virginia, was never a large slave holding area before the split with Virginia. The black population was fairly small. As whites were fired for union activities, blacks were recruited from the south to replace them. Eventually they were starting to turn to the union.
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Immigration from Europe was at a high rate then. Non-English speaking immigrants were brought in to replace the blacks. It was a powder keg waiting to blow, in a rural area that 40 years before was all but cut off from the outside world.
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Mom's dad was from family that went back to early 1700s in Tidewater, Virginia. Never land holders as such, farmed and moved around.
Dad's dad, came from Hungary in 1910. Went to same county as mom's family, Logan County. Worked many mines in the area.
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Dad's dad, came from Hungary in 1910. Went to same county as mom's family, Logan County. Worked many mines in the area.
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Logan was known up through the 1970s as one of the most corrupt counties in the US for voter fraud & intimidation, mostly courtesy of the UMWA. West Virginia as a whole was so controlled that I knew only a few people that claimed to be Republican.
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When I left home at 17, I thought I was a Democrat, because they were for "the little guy, the working man."
The UMWA eventually helped destroy the coal industry as it once was. SW West Virginia is like the land that time forgot in many areas. Union bosses retired to Florida.
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The UMWA eventually helped destroy the coal industry as it once was. SW West Virginia is like the land that time forgot in many areas. Union bosses retired to Florida.
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But in the 1920s, there needed to be a change, and it didn't come without bloodshed. The most known (today) incident was the "Matewan Massacre." Matewan is a town in Mingo County, once known as "Bloody Mingo." A movie was made of it in the 80s or 90s.
http://www.matewanmassacre.com/
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http://www.matewanmassacre.com/
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Within a year of this was the Battle of Blair Mountain. It was on the border of Logan and Boone Counties, very near to both of my grandads. I was told by an aunt that my grandma kept grandad from going when it started. They had 7 kids. I know nothing beyond that.
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Dad's dad lived on the other side of the mountain. I don't know anything about his involvement. He died when dad was 8, my dad died when I was 12. I never talked to him about it.
https://www.history.com/news/americas-largest-labor-uprising-the-battle-of-blair-mountain
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https://www.history.com/news/americas-largest-labor-uprising-the-battle-of-blair-mountain
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During the period of violence, there were hired detectives, paid enforcers of the coal companies, who'd evict families at the direction of their bosses. Some were gunned down on the streets. A police chief was executed in front of a courthouse.
https://www.wvpublic.org/radio/2018-08-01/sid-hatfield-and-ed-chambers-shot-in-welch-august-1-1921
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https://www.wvpublic.org/radio/2018-08-01/sid-hatfield-and-ed-chambers-shot-in-welch-august-1-1921
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The largest, armed resistance of citizens since the Civil War took place on a rural mountain top. The federal government sent troops and planes in the process.
Too many Americans think history began when they were born. We've been through some tough times & come out better.
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Too many Americans think history began when they were born. We've been through some tough times & come out better.
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The only reason our troubles today are different, is that we can no longer trust our "guardians of truth." We have to interpret the news through a bullshit filter.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Keep the faith, citizens! We aren't dead yet.
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Keep the faith, citizens! We aren't dead yet.
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