"Yeah," a coal miner says, "but the land's so poor, you can't hardly raise an umbrella on it.". Two hundred people crowd. "We run because we wanted to testify, and if we hadn't run, he woulda had us in jail." Breaks in the cable, they say, are often just wrapped with mask-ing tape and exposed again to the water. Three Point Mine Explosion The Wagner Act of 1935 (National Labor Relations Act or NLRA) guaranteed the rights of workers to choose to organize. Leroy Helton says miners often have to splice electrical cable, even though they're not qualified to do so. He sentenced nine men and seven women to six months in jail and fined them $500 each. 2012: $1,552,717. ", Bill Doan says that he was hurt in a rockfall at 7:15 one morning and that he didn't get out of the mine until nine o'clock. COMING THE BOYS OF HARLAN - The Washington Post "We've took about all we can take," he says. They're trapped. Duke went into the coal business directly in 1970 when it organized Eastover Mining Company as a wholly owned subsidiary and, through it, bought several mines in eastern Kentucky, including the one at Brookside. Blair made it clear that he was on the side of the mine operators and the people of the county lost any illusion that the law enforcement would be impartial in this strike. Harlan County Coal Operators' Association. I have taken several classes in Journalism as well as in the Appalachian History, Literature, and Sociology during my time at those schools. Pierce mentions the "toothpick incident." The Harlan County Coal War is one of the . Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Which Side are You on? I have been married to David W. Sergent since May 4, 2013. It was the most violent attack of the Harlan County Coal wars and the most violence would only last fifteen minutes in total but would forever change the name to Bloody Harlan. Does the Association hire for all the mines in the county? Special Judge F. Byrd Hogg, a neighboring county judge who has been assigned to the case, entered an early order limiting the strikers to three pickets at each of two entrances to the Eastover Mining Company property. They are demanding the standard UMW provision requiring the company to pay a royalty of seventy-five cents a ton on mined coal into the UMW Welfare & Retirement Fund. . It will be a two-hour, winding drive through the Cumberland Mountains to the town of Harlan. So we lay down in the road." It is thought that Middleton was assassinated for backing troops who were present in the County to protect the miners. I remind her that Duke and Eastover executives were invited, and have refused to appear before us. We soon get into a discussion about Dreiser's 1931 inquiry. Laid off and owed pay: the Kentucky miners blocking coal trains If you protested this safety violation, he says, "the boss would just say, 'Run it.'" Miner Curtis Cress, 34, says towns that . Captain James Cromer of the state police later tells news reporters, "The women are a problem. A shoulder blade and five of his ribs were broken. Exist Dates. But you must remember I am an immoral man. However, the battle continues to this day. With the added protection for workers and the addition of collective bargaining between the workers and their employers. It has assets worth $2.5 billion. Or all you're gonna get's a chunk of Harlan County coal. Documentary of mining practices in Hazard County, Kentucky. Yarborough replies. Three of our Inquiry members plan to talk with the president of Duke Power Company. I am the only man in the United States who would do that sort of thing.". Prior to Miller's election, the union had become corrupt, dictatorial, and a frequent collaborator with the mine owners. Blair. Sheriff T. R. Middleton replaced Blair under the pro-union campaign platform. Barbara says that she was reacting spontaneously to the spirit and determination exhibited by the women, that their testimony was the highlight of our hearings. It reports that "Piedmont" is an adjective derived.from Italian words that literally mean "formed at the foot of the mountains." However, after the dust was clear, the anti-labor coal country would end up being represented by unions. Here at Kentucky Tennessee Living we fully support the coal miners and their families. Home - Harlan County Bill Doan says, "When I got hurt, I couldn't find Jim Miller, the man who had charge of the sick fund." Jacqueline Brophy is the daughter of Pat Brophy, who went into the mines when he was twelve, and who, in 1926, ran against John L. Lewis and lost. I was born in Florida and grew up in Burdine, Kentucky. On May 5, 1931, the Battle of Evarts began. These battles will end the Coal Wars proper. Harlan County War Wiki - Everipedia The Coal Strike of 1902: Turning Point in U.S. Policy The Widows of Harlan County - CBS News "Yarborough says he just don't want nobody tellin' him how to run his mine," Deaton says. Harlan County. The Harlan County Coal Operators Association, still functioning today, spent nearly a half million dollars from 1927 to 1938 to combat unionism, most of it going to pay strongarm men to terrorize the miners and their families. Ky., told the Senate Civil Liberties Committee as it resumed its investigation of alleged terrorism in connection with Harlan County Coal Operators' efforts to resist union organization drives. But relatives did come and take the children. The Harlan Daily Enterprise story of September 16, 1943 is serious and straightforward: 17 miners are trapped a mile underground and help is on the way.. Much of the story is about help. These women have organized a special kind of feminist movement, and the issues to them are life-and-death issues. An investigation was conducted on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields. Done. Three Harlan County incorporated towns were not owned by the coal mines, they became a sanctuary for the evicted and starving miners. . If for example, they did not behave in the way the companies wanted them to, they could lose all their benefits up to and including their jobs. Big Boy. Mr. Working barns of gray-black weathered wood. The accident was investigated by Rufus Bailey, Harlan, district mine inspector of the State Department of Mines and Minerals, and James Bryson, safety director, Harlan County Coal Operators Association. Why are people allowed to dump raw sewage in the streams? They tell of two night incidents when rifle shots were fired at the picketers by unidentified persons. Almost immediately after the explosion became known rescue teams, under the direction of J. F. Bryson, safety director of the Harlan County Coal Operators association, started into the entry. They are merely a service organization, Yarborough says. Documentary Noise: The Soundscape of Barbara Kopple's Harlan County, U But is it really hurting? After the railroad arrived in 1911 . Miners die, and last year was the deadliest in American coal mines in more than a decade. The Price of Coal, Part I - kentuckymonthly.com Resources | Harlan Coal Scrip Garbage along the roadside. Pistol Annies - Harlan County Coal (Audio) - YouTube On Friday, October 3, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt called a precedent-shattering meeting at the temporary White House at 22 Lafayette Place, Washington, D.C. A . The Act also made a provision for a National Labor-Relations Board to designate a legal structure for the workers to conduct fair and legal elections of their officers and representatives. On Friday, March 25, a continuous mining machine operator was killed by a wall collapse at the Huff Creek No. Since the county began mining, over one billion tons of coal have "We could lay down, fight the police, or let them scabs go to work. Battle of Evartshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts, National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/new-deal/national-industrial-recovery-act-of-1933/, Battle of Evartshttps://pipiwiki.com/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts, Battle of Evartshttps://wiki2.org/en/Battle_of_Evarts, Harlan County Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County_War, A Brief History of Harlan County, USAhttps://labornotes.org/blogs/2019/08/brief-history-harlan-county-usa, Harlan County Warhttps://everipedia.org/Harlan_County_War, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/background-coal-strike, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/local-elite, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/new-york-writers, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/national-miners-union-and-other-radical-groups, The Wagner Act of 1935 (National Labor Relations Act)https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-wagner-act-of-1935-national-labor-relations-act-2060509#:~:text=%20The%20Wagner%20Act%20defines%20and%20prohibits%20five,or%20administration%20of%20a%20labor%20organization.%20More%20, BOMB IN AUTO KILLS KENTUCKY OFFICIAL; Harlan County Attorney Predicted Assassination for Backing Troops in Election.https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/05/archives/bomb-in-auto-kills-kentucky-official-harlan-county-attorney.html#:~:text=HARLAN%2C%20Ky.%2C%20Sept.%204%20%28AP%29.%20%20The%20death,his%20automobile.%20View%20Full%20Article%20in%20Timesmachine%20%C2%BB, Elmon Clay Middleton https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70804679/elmon-clay-middleton, KENTUCKY HOLDS FOUR IN AUTO BOMB KILLING; Harlan Prosecutors Death Is Laid to His Fight Against Slot Machines.https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/06/archives/kentucky-holds-four-in-auto-bomb-killing-harlan-prosecutors-death.html, Blackjewel Bankruptcy Leaves Damaged Lands and Miners Compensation in Limbo, https://ohiovalleyresource.org/2021/03/22/blackjewel-bankruptcy-finalized/, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?fbclid=IwAR21nYphw4Dul-_EwuAmSWgzsvPLNwsMM0FtV75j0y-mGUHq-lCZjJxZot8, For more about us, you can visit our Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/kytnliving, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0oV5gFzIS2JdMJ3HvTOgA, When we forget our past and who we are as a people, then we become who they say we are. Most of the land is owned by the mining companies. No wonder R C Cola has so many signs everywhere. Conflict broke out again the 1970s in what was known as the Brookside strike. Some seventy-five state policemen were on hand as the crowd gathered. Is the safety provision in the UMW contract the sticking point for Eastover? Lois Scott explains that during the first confrontation at the mine, she saw a pistol in the front seat of every "scab" car she looked into and that a company "gun thug" pointed a submachine gun at the women from the porch of the Eastover office. Hazard County documentary / produced by H. Sinclair. - Internet Archive They exercised their powers with impunity and operated under Sheriff J.H. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The Harlan County Coal Wars 1931-1939 - Kentucky Tennessee Living They had no safety committee, the miners say, and the federal reports bear them out. Project Summary. Done Citation. Talking to Aaronson, I am reminded of an old tin sign I saw tacked on a tree along the highway as I left Harlan. . "I've seen some hurt and some killed. Violence erupted that would periodically repeat itself for the next eight years. This was not just a flashy slogan, and the truth of it is . The accident was the second worst mine fatality in the history of Harlan County coal mining, the worst being Harlan Fuel Company . Bill McQueen says that the shuttle car into the mine usually has no brakes, and that it can only be stopped by putting it in reverse. The miners express extreme dissatisfaction with Eastover's medical and retirement benefits. The miners speak of other dissatisfactions with Eastover and the old Southern Labor Union contract. It is clear that these women have been a main factor in keeping the mine shut down. This series of skirmishes and strikes, lasting from early 1931 into 1939, began because of the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association's (HCCOA) decision to cut miners' wages by 10%. Before the first meeting of the Citizens Inquiry, we sit around and talk with the Inquiry chairman, Daniel Pollitt, a professor of law at the University of North Carolina. I remind her of what Bill Doan has said: "You work with one eye on the roof, one eye on your job, and your mind's outside.". Willard Wirtz says he senses that the Harlan County Coal Operators Association is a major factor in the dispute, that it doesn't want a settlement with higher wages and benefits and tough safety provisions to be made by Eastover, because it fears the domino effect of such a settlement on the rest of the companies in the county. Here, too, are some of the richest natural resources in the countryand some of the poorest people. It comes to a bill of about $20,000 a week for the national union. This caused the clergy to denounce the union. It is too early for dolor. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". "But if they call me and ask if a man works for me, I simply say yes or no.". He is dressed more like a miner than a mining executive. The miners say that all of the strikers have been blacklisted by the Association. The coal miners, lean and tough from Kentucky mountain life, knew how to fight back. "If we could monitor these inspections, perhaps we could cut down on the fatalities," he says. The local grand jury returned an indictment against Dreiser for adultery, but by that time Dreiser had finished his work and had left the county on the train. It was [and still is] used to signify that what happened in the realm of politics, a field largely controlled by men, affect women's everyday lives. "I've had the foreman to tell me to set timbers or something until the inspector got gone. Get a Demo. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Dateline Newport News, Virginia, November 12, 1931: Dreiser denies the charge and says he wants people to concentrate on the facts of the labor dispute and "get the American mind off sex for a moment." In June of 1973, workers at the Brookside coal mine in Harlan County, Kentucky voted 113-55 to replace their membership in the Southern Labor Union (SLU) and join the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union. That means, among other things, an average daily wage of $45. They want the terms of the standard UMW contract or better. [ citation needed ] On February 16, 1931, in order to prevent operating at a loss, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%. Inside the Harlan County Coal Miner Protest - Rolling Stone They made several attempts at holding strikes against the coal companies, but these failed in Harlan County. Grover Jennings says that six months ago he applied for a job at the Mary Helen mine and was apparently accepted, but that when he went back for his physical, Clyde Goitis, an official at the mine, said, "Buddy, there just ain't no way I can do anything for you. ("Tony") Boyle for the national presidency of the UMW in 1972 in an election closely supervised by the federal government. The Federal Government, with the Commissioner of Labor in a fact finding role, acted as a 'neutral' for the first time in contributing to settlement of the bitter coal strike. "Here at Brookside, if you called someone from SLU, he might come in a week, he might come in two weeks, but when he did come, he'd go into Eastover's office and talk for an hour," Bill Doan says. Battle of Evarts - Wikipedia Name Entry; Harlan County Coal Operators' Association. "Then he'd come out looking like a sheep-killing dog and get in his truck and run. Burning Up People to Make Electricity - The Atlantic Under this Act, the right to organize in ones workplace was granted as well as it outlawed any discrimination whether employed or seeking employment based on union membership. There was no functioning safety committee Medical and retirement benefits were minimal and unreliable. Darrell Deaton says there is a direct telephone line to Washington for safety complaints, "but if you identify yourself; you're gonna be out of a job.". "I don't try to blacklist anybody," he says. In June of 1973, in a National Labor Relations Board election, the miners at Brookside voted 113 to 55 to affiliate with the United Mine Workers. With the opening left by the United Mine Workers union the openly Communist (NMU) National Miners Union tried to help the miners to organize. "In Harlan County, U.S.A., sound anchors, explains, and makes 'authentic' visual imagery compromised by the long history of documentary work in Appalachia.". In the throes of the Great Depression, Harlan County coal owners and operators, in an effort to expand national dependency on their fuel, chose to sell below cost. He says that wages are no longer a problem and that the amount of the royalty to be paid into the UMW Welfare & Retirement Fund is not crucially important. And, all around, there are the rolling mountains, covered with second-growth timber. Another press member criticizes Barbara Bode for having raised a clenched fist during the women's testimony. Bright yellow forsythia has begun to bloom in the yards of Harlan and Brookside and Evarts. [videorecording] Contributor(s): Kopple, Barbara; First-Run Features (Firm) Cabin Creek Films; Publication details: New York : First Run Features, 1976. . the foreman would just say, "We gotta run coal. 1931, only $13.5 million. How does the Harlan County Coal Operators Association fit into the picture? He then answers a question he wasn't asked. New subdivisions named Tall Oaks and Colonial Heights. Its profits in 1973 were $90 million, up 14 percent from the year before. "We took the sticks with us," she says. In Harlan County on July 7, 1935, during a celebration of the Wagner Act, a group of disgruntled deputies severely beat up several miners and dispersed the crowd. The final straw was when the Harlan County Coal Operators Association cut miners' wages by 10%.
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