Battle Erupting over Blair Mountain, Again
source: http://sundaygazettemail.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201001300469
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The Charelston Gazette Op-Ed Commentaries January 30, 2010
Harvard Ayers: Second Battle of Blair Mountain
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain is a historic event of great national importance known mostly to West Virginians. The battle represents the largest insurrection in America's history, except for the Civil War.
In late August and early September of 1921, a 10,000-strong redneck army of coal miners - tired of harassment by coal-operator gunmen and angered by the assassination of Matewan labor hero Sid Hatfield - was intent on forcibly unionizing the coal fields of Southern West Virginia. Sheriff Don Chafin and his coal-operator-backed army of about 3,000 sheriff's deputies, state police and hired guns used machine guns to defend the high ground along Spruce Fork Ridge in Logan County, where a million or more shots were fired by the two sides.
The furious battle raged five days. Then the U.S. Army and the Air Force of the day were called in by Gov. Ephraim Morgan, and that was that. The rednecks had no beef with the U.S. forces they had recently fought alongside in World War I. It was not until a dozen years later that the United Mine Workers got a bill passed by the Roosevelt administration that mandated, by the stroke of a pen, what guns could not accomplish - the right to unionize the Southern West Virginia coal fields and beyond.
The Second Battle of Blair Mountain - the effort to preserve the hallowed ground in order to honor and respect the many men who fought and died there in 1921 - began three decades ago. The second battle is strikingly similar to the first. Gov. Joe Manchin and his bureaucracy, mainly Historic Preservation Officer Randall Reid-Smith, joined with coal operators to fight off (more)
http://sundaygazettemail.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201001300469
“Battlefield sunrise Blair Mountain, 1921”
quilt patch from The Great American Energy Quilt Project 2010
Dedicated to Coal War Hero David Baghdadi, after a 9day siege at the Battle for Bee Tree Strip Mine fought bravely against Massey Energy.
February 2nd, 2010
Coalwar.com
Harvard Ayers: Second Battle of Blair Mountain
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain is a historic event of great national importance known mostly to West Virginians. The battle represents the largest insurrection in America's history, except for the Civil War.
In late August and early September of 1921, a 10,000-strong redneck army of coal miners - tired of harassment by coal-operator gunmen and angered by the assassination of Matewan labor hero Sid Hatfield - was intent on forcibly unionizing the coal fields of Southern West Virginia. Sheriff Don Chafin and his coal-operator-backed army of about 3,000 sheriff's deputies, state police and hired guns used machine guns to defend the high ground along Spruce Fork Ridge in Logan County, where a million or more shots were fired by the two sides.
The furious battle raged five days. Then the U.S. Army and the Air Force of the day were called in by Gov. Ephraim Morgan, and that was that. The rednecks had no beef with the U.S. forces they had recently fought alongside in World War I. It was not until a dozen years later that the United Mine Workers got a bill passed by the Roosevelt administration that mandated, by the stroke of a pen, what guns could not accomplish - the right to unionize the Southern West Virginia coal fields and beyond.
The Second Battle of Blair Mountain - the effort to preserve the hallowed ground in order to honor and respect the many men who fought and died there in 1921 - began three decades ago. The second battle is strikingly similar to the first. Gov. Joe Manchin and his bureaucracy, mainly Historic Preservation Officer Randall Reid-Smith, joined with coal operators to fight off (more)
http://sundaygazettemail.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201001300469
“Battlefield sunrise Blair Mountain, 1921”
quilt patch from The Great American Energy Quilt Project 2010
Dedicated to Coal War Hero David Baghdadi, after a 9day siege at the Battle for Bee Tree Strip Mine fought bravely against Massey Energy.
February 2nd, 2010
Coalwar.com
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