The name comes from a series of United Mine Workers strikes and labor-management battles which ended in a gunfight between deputized mine guards and miners on May 4, 1931, in the tiny community of Evarts. Segment Synopsis: Lois Scott continues her conversation from her previous interview. These guards were legally able to protect these men during their off duty time. 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. This caused the clergy to denounce the union. The Benham Coal Company records (151 cubic feet, 302 Boxes; dated 1911-1973) focus primarily on the early years of Benham Coal through the 1940s. He speaks of "my people" and "my men." In Harlan County, Kentucky, are some of our country's richest natural resourcesand some of its poorest people. We feel that we have provided a national forum for the miners to tell their story. Coal companies refused to back down while the Red Cross refused to give aid . Even pop culture cannot ignore its impact with such shows as Justified. Leroy Helton says miners often have to splice electrical cable, even though they're not qualified to do so. It is unclear who fired that shot but both sides claim that the other side did it. Pay ranged from $17 to $32 day, the average being $25. There are very few vacant houses in the county. The miners, impoverished due to their already low pay (this coming in the form of company scrip, room, and board), decided enough was enough, and some of them . Willard Wirtz asks how it will all come out, how the strike will end. Seen 'em carried out on a stretcher," she says. It has assets worth $2.5 billion. Soon enough, most miners had gone on strike out of solidarity. Sometimes, they'll be a black scum on the rag." He was transferred to a worse section, he says. (That is a tough point.) They just laughed about it, and we kept on cuttin' coal. When this strike was broken in1924, none of the non-union mines in Harlan County, all of which were members ofthe Harlan County Coal Operators Association, would employ a man from BlackMountain."Many of the men who worked at Black Mountain transferred to LocalUnion No. He does say, I think primarily for the record, that he would like to see negotiations begin again. The UMW had made written proposals for compromising these issues a little. The Wagner Act of 1935 (National Labor Relations Act or NLRA) guaranteed the rights of workers to choose to organize. It is a warm night and at every bend in the asphalt road we hear a chorus of croaking frogs. Is the safety provision in the UMW contract the sticking point for Eastover? CBS is represented by a camera crew, and there are a number of national reporters. Its profits in 1973 were $90 million, up 14 percent from the year before. Sudie Crusenberg, a plain woman in a cotton dress, gives us some idea of what life is like for a coal-mining family. It was a nearly decade-long conflict, lasting from 1931 to 1939. . In 1970, Joseph Yablonski had led a rank-and-file revolt against Boyle, and Yablonski and his wife and daughter had been brutally murdered by killers hired with union funds. But what of the people of Harlan County? We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. On May 24, 1931, Sheriff Blair rescinded the miners right to assemble and tear-gassed a union rally. As discussed in a previous video. "The personal is political" was a rallying cry of second wave feminism. Tuesday morning: Norman Yarborough has agreed to meet some of our group. They lobby in Frankfort and Washington and sponsor an annual "Coal Miners Day" to try to get more high school students interested in mining engineering. Darrell Deaton, president of the Brookside UMW local, says he was caught in a belt line last year because he had to work alone, without a helper. An investigation was conducted on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields. The motorcade stopped and the deputies got out of their cars to return fire. Perched atop Inspiration Mountain is the modern Mount Aire Motel. McQueen says that in late 1972 he burned his fingers to the bone on a switchbox where a blown fuse had been hot-wired. Toilet paper clings to the bushes and tree limbs five or six feet up from the rushing stream. To prevent operating at a loss, on February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators Association decided to cut all wages by ten percent. The unemployment rate in the county is 7 percent; that doesn't count those who have long since given up looking for the scarce or nonexistent jobs. "They don't want miners havin' any say in safety." Harlan County, Kentucky is known for two things: bituminous coal and Bloody Harlan. From July 30, 2019, through September 28, 2019, coal miners and their families have blocked roads and railways demanding their payment. I've talked to Norman Yarborough, and you ain't bringing no union down here. Harlan County. Free shipping for many products! James Willard Pope officiating. Genders. Grace Elizabeth Hale. 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. McDonald's. I currently live in Tennessee but my hope is to one day come back home to live in the beautiful mountains once more. Each of us makes a statement. The National Industrial Recovery Act only partially succeeded in accomplishing its stated goals when it was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on May 27, 1935, which was three weeks before the Act was set to expire. As the motorcade approached a single shot rang out in the air. Finally, in 1939, the coal companies agreed to allow unions in their coal mine operations. Bright yellow forsythia has begun to bloom in the yards of Harlan and Brookside and Evarts. I've got five living children and four dead. The Harlan County Coal War is one of the . Now, forty-three years later, Harlan County is again gripped in a UMW strike, this time at the Brookside mine of the Eastover Mining Company, and another citizens' group has been formed. Word precedes him. 1 mine in Evarts, in Harlan County, Kentucky. There were ten lodges that were chartered for the National Miners Union. 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. After the Battle of Evarts, the Red Cross and the United Mine Workers Union refused to help the striking men on the basis that it was now an industrial conflict that needed to be resolved internally. We agree that most of us lean toward the miners, but we think we can be fair in trying to learn the facts. Daniels was one of the most hated deputies in the county due to his anti-union views. He'd worked seventy-eight hours straight the preceding week. At first, there were little battles with gunshots being exchanged between the strikers and the private guards, and the local law enforcement agents. But I ain't leaving because this is my home.". On the plane with me, it turns out, is another member of the Citizens Inquiry, Jacqueline Brophy, who is the director of the Labor-Liberal Arts Program of Cornell University's School of Industrial Labor Relations in New York. With this Supreme Court ruling, all but one of the open shops in Harlan County went back to the previous mine operations. 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. It seems that unfriendly local law enforcement officials kept a constant surveillance on Dreiser, hoping to catch him in something that would justify a criminal charge against him. "Roof falls are a constant hazard, but the bosses just keep on rushin'.". Throughout 1931, violence sprouted between miners The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-39 (Paperback) at the best online prices at eBay! They also plan to join with a North Carolina group in protesting Duke's requested rate increase, and they are going to attend the meeting of Duke's stockholders on May 30. those in the Harlan County Coal Operators . Former Director of Harlan County Coal Operators Association. "I've got so many duns from the hospital that I just quit lookin' at them. They want the terms of the standard UMW contract or better. "I've had the foreman to tell me to set timbers or something until the inspector got gone. "We've took about all we can take," he says. 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. A Committee was formed and conducted by Activist Theodore Dreiser under the auspices of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP). The median family income is $4600 a year. America in the Harlan County Mine Wars, 1931-1939 Carletta A. Bush Early accounts of the Harlan County mine wars place the inability of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to establish a permanent foothold in the county, first at the feet of of the Harlan County Coal Operators Association (HCCOA) and secondly at When fuses blow, they are not immediately replaced; the cable is spliced or "hot-wired" around the fuse. At these locations, the mine wages began to be comparable to other jobs around the nation. Listen to "Harlan County Coal" from Pistol Annies' album, 'Hell of a Holiday,' out now: https://pa.lnk.to/HOAHAY Chorus:Making decorations out of shotgun she. In 1973 the 13-month Brookside Strike brought almost 200 workers to battle Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant, a company owned by Duke Power. We come into Harlan County at dusk. The decrease in wages, unemployment, and irregular employment caused "poverty, hunger, and disease.". ("Tony") Boyle for the national presidency of the UMW in 1972 in an election closely supervised by the federal government. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Theoretically, even operators' and owners' children were . The county was once part of Knox County, only becoming official in 1819. In response, the coal owners and operators decided to sell their fuel at below cost to increase the national dependency on coal. The remaining workforce then went on strike as a sign of solidarity with those that were fired from their jobs. During the day, a man came and said that if their children weren't out of the jail by night, the welfare people would take them. 1931, only $13.5 million. Si sticks a wad of Red Man chewing tobacco in his cheek and begins to fill us in on the background of the Brookside strike. Three Harlan County incorporated towns were not owned by the coal mines, they became a sanctuary for the evicted and starving miners. A historical marker says we are near the Little Shepherd Trail, the setting for the novel Shepherd of the Hills. The slab of slate, more than 51 feet long, and 17 feet wide and weighing tons, was dodged by two men. (There is such a provision in the standard UMW contract.). If you protested this safety violation, he says, "the boss would just say, 'Run it.'" Partial Transcript: August 27, '86. What did the foremen say on those occasions? During the big coal boom in the early 1900s, Harlan County was amongst the largest contributors. A Brief History of Harlan County, USA. 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. "It's one of 'em," Yarborough says. The transcript will be published as a book. "My daddy's a retired coal miner, and he's got the black lung. The issues had been narrowed down to Eastover's demand for a "no-strike clause" and a limit on the power of the safety committee. Mr. Nolan, a resident of Cawood, is survived by his wife, Mrs. Stella Nolan . They have probably helped keep their own men from exploding too. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". In the face of what promised to be a lengthy struggle for the Harlan County coal miners of 1931, their wildcat strike had left thousands jobless and many homeless as well. After this, the first strike occurred, in which only about 13% of strikers showed up to work. Biographical History . Arnold Miller, who was an active coal miner until three years ago and is now the reform-minded president of the United Mine Workers, has asked me to serve as a member of a "Citizens Public Inquiry into the Brookside Strike.". . Many of the houses have no running water, and these families have to carry all their water from a common outdoor spigot. Some of the miners also claim that the state police have tried to intimidate them. She's been picketing with the other women. Norman Yarborough, head of Eastover Mining Company, is not coming either. But will Norman Yarborough ever agree to recognize the UMW? "They didn't say nothin'; all they want's coal.' I have two children and four grandchildren from a previous marriage. He discusses the formation and activities of the Harlan County Coal Operators Association . It is too early for dolor. I have been married to David W. Sergent since May 4, 2013. The women are nervous about testifying, afraid of retaliation. 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. The Red Cross eventually became involved in the county along with several local charities. Miners die, and last year was the deadliest in American coal mines in more than a decade. Destitute miners were in no position to take a 2 wage cut; yet, in February of 1931 the newest in a long series of wage cuts occurred, reducing miners' weekly pay by 10 percent. "I cain't get a job nowhere in this county. We drive to the Evarts Community Center and report to the other members of the Citizens Inquiry. Louis Stacy that he has several times been running a defective roofbolting machine when word came that inspector was on his way. Rev. by Ron Soodalter. Nonunion workers were attempting to leave the mine. Miners also wanted the right to organize and have a union. Filmed during the coal strike of 1974-1975, this documentary does much to capture the tension brought on by the injustice of the coal operators to the coal miners in Harlan County, Kentucky. J. D. Skidmore says, "I have no chance of getting a job in Harlan County if this strike is not settled." Their General Secretary recently released some facts which help to illustrate the reason for much of the unemployment in the county. The miners charge that the Harlan County Coal Operators Association is behind Eastover's refusal to sign a contract. We gather back in Evarts and announce that our report will be ready in two or three weeks. Available for both RF and RM licensing. The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. "This whole country is like a layer cake," Si Kahn says, "a layer cake of shale, coal, and sandstone. Evarts welcomed the miners because it was filled with spurned politicians and business owners who wished to see the company stores and company men in political positions vanish. The strikebreakers were under the protection of private mine guards. These interviews with major coal operators document their personal histories and the history of the coal industry in eastern Kentucky during the twentieth century. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the company could leave damages to the environment, abandon assets, and not pay the coal miners owed wages. We are handed copies of court records concerning a certain Claude Beach, who has been hired by Eastover during the strike as a "security guard." Lois Scott says that the women organized the Brookside Women's Club and got involved in the strike "because we knew that if the women didn't come in there would be violence." "Yarborough says he just don't want nobody tellin' him how to run his mine," Deaton says. No help came to those that were in starving situations due to no money to spend on food and no admittance to the company store unless they were gainfully employed by the coal mine. 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. Only 23 percent of those in the county over the age of twenty-five have completed high school. The Three Point disaster was the worst suffered in the county since December 9, 1932, when 23 men were killed in an explosion in "Zero" Mine of Harlan Fuel Company, Yancey. 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 . Chicago citation style: Harris & Ewing, photographer. 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 . Based on this new Act, from October 27, 1933, to March 31, 1935, the mines ran as open shops. Their foothold there ultimately ended because the local clergy who were the labor organizers found out that the union was communist in nature and held animosity toward religion. On September 9, 1935, for the first time since the beginning of the war, troops were dispatched to Harlan County on behalf of the miners by the Governor of the State of Kentucky. All too many Americans are under the naive belief that, while unions may have been necessary in the 30's, they are no longer needed in the United States today. A young woman from the Associated Press asks me, aren't we getting only one side of the story? Others claim that his death was caused by an election concerning slot machines into the county. This was thirteen percent of the workers showing up for their scheduled work times. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The aftermath of this battle led to wider strikes in the Harlan County area. Brophy's was the last reform insurgency against UMW leadership until Joseph Yablonski's fatal try. I don't like- workin' in them kind of conditions." The radical ideology of the union began gaining some ground in the mountains. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Here at Kentucky Tennessee Living we fully support the coal miners and their families. Prior to Miller's election, the union had become corrupt, dictatorial, and a frequent collaborator with the mine owners. The prospects for settlement do not look good unless Duke begins to feel public pressure. Harlan Fuel Co. Download PDF. We are picked up at the airport by Si (for Simon) Kahn, a Pennsylvania rabbi's son who graduated from Harvard, came to the Southern mountains as a Vista worker, and remained here, working for local community groups. Yarborough is tough and unyielding. The most shocking moment in Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) looks at first like an abstract painting. The men's life depended on my job, but I knowed if I protested I'd a got fired. Now, Tony Boyle is among those who have been convicted of complicity in the murders, and Arnold Miller is the head of the revamped union. The mining company had ordered a motorcade to deliver food and supplies to the strikebreakers known as Scabs. "I've seen some hurt and some killed. Steeped in Appalachian culture and surrounded by the influence of coal, Harlan County has amassed an interesting reputation and national attention with rest of the world. Eastover agreed to sign the 1971 wage pact of the Bituminous Coal Operators Association which is in force at 1,200 mines. Five men and their titles are listed and all are doing all they can.. Why are people allowed to dump raw sewage in the streams? The airline magazine contains an article on southern skiing, a feature on hot, winter drinks for the "Piedmont palate," an article on how tough it is to be thirty-three and middle-class today, and a success story about an Atlanta bra, sleepwear, girdle, and pantie company. The accident was the second worst mine fatality in the history of Harlan County coal mining, the worst being Harlan Fuel Company . The women furnish the panel with a copy of a report from the Harlan County Health Department, dated October 12, 1973, which states that the drinking water in the Eastover mining camp, where approximately thirty of the striking Brookside families live, is "highly contaminated" with fecal bacteria. Done Citation. To prevent operating at a loss, on February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association decided to cut all wages by ten . The United Mine Workers of America represented 400,000 miners at that point and promised miners safer work conditions and higher wages. By comparison to Harlan, the Pittston strike in 1989-1990 shut down almost 70% of that company's production (and completely halted production during the Moss 3 refining plant occupation) and won back the health care benefits of around 1500 miners and their families, as well as the Coal Act of 1992 that requires all coal operators in the U . ", Bill McQueen says that when the shuttle's lights and brakes were not working and the inspector was coming, the foreman would say, "Park it." Five miles north of Harlan, we drive up Inspiration Mountain. Four men were arrested in connection with this murder. In response, the United Mine Workers of America attempted to organize the miners. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Which Side are You on? Drift mines back into the mountains follow the seam of coal wherever it goes." Harlan County Coal Operators' Association. Harlan, city, seat of Harlan county, southeastern Kentucky, U.S., in the Cumberland Mountains, on the Clover Fork Cumberland River. More than twenty-four babies out of a thousand die before they are one year old, and the expenditure per child in the public schools is one-half the national average. It is clear that these women have been a main factor in keeping the mine shut down. But negotiations for a contract with Eastover soon broke down, and on July 30 the miners at Brookside began the strike that now, as we arrive, is in its eighth month. The sign man for R C Cola has worked this territory well. Does the Association hire for all the mines in the county? Why haven't the car bodies been removed from the highway and the streets? We never would find out what happened. Apparently, this is one of Eastover's major objections. Project Summary. Duke Power Company of North Carolina, he says, is the sixth largest utility company in the world.