harlan county coal operators association

Mrs. Herschel Gaw, wife of the ailing jailer, locked them all up. Toilets are built out over the river, and the water has obviously been much higher in the recent past. Sadly, the state and federal troops would occupy the county several times. The warrant was never served. Lois Scott, a woman of about forty-five, begins to speak first. The miners say that all of the strikers have been blacklisted by the Association. I am the only man in the United States who would do that sort of thing.". New subdivisions named Tall Oaks and Colonial Heights. He is dressed more like a miner than a mining executive. It is a warm night and at every bend in the asphalt road we hear a chorus of croaking frogs. With the added protection for workers and the addition of collective bargaining between the workers and their employers. It is an area of Kentucky that you only go to if you are intentionally going to the county. Visit us and take a step back in time to learn more about how Harlan County helped build a nation at Portal 31 Exhibition Mine tour or come experience the delight of . They have done this only since the Brookside strike. 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. Why is garbage left on the roadway? The bosses wouldn't go in, but I've. When a miner complains, Jerry Johnson says, the foreman says, "If you don't like it, you can always get your bucket," meaning pick up your lunch bucket and get out. 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. They had no safety committee, the miners say, and the federal reports bear them out. "I don't like to handle that raw juice," he says. The union abandoned its efforts after less than a year. Brophy's was the last reform insurgency against UMW leadership until Joseph Yablonski's fatal try. There was a scuffle when a state police captain tried to remove one of the women, she says, adding, "Captain Cromer did get hit several times; I hit him with a stick myself." Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Mr. Nolan, a resident of Cawood, is survived by his wife, Mrs. Stella Nolan . Theoretically, even operators' and owners' children were . The Red Cross eventually became involved in the county along with several local charities. KCA's constitution and by-laws were adopted on April 28, 1947, "to promote the best interest of the coal mining industry in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and all those engaged therein". He said that when the coal industry was at its height in 1928, the peak of . But relatives did come and take the children. Interment at Resthaven Cemetery, Keith, Ky. Visitation 6-9 p.m. at the Grays Knob Bible Church. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. We hope that our hearings will help hold down violence. "Boss walks up and says, 'We've got to make this mine look good now, boys; the inspector's comin','" Jerry Johnson says. The miners could be fired if they refused to spend their paychecks only in the store. That commitment has never waivered, and has grown . He decided to make Harlan County a test case in the UMW's new, more aggressive organizing efforts. Nonunion workers were attempting to leave the mine. The next morning the toothpicks were still in place, it was said. "The personal is political" was a rallying cry of second wave feminism. the meeting room. Why wasn't the fuse replaced at once? A shoulder blade and five of his ribs were broken. 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. On one excuse or another, such as not having personnel readily available to accompany the inspector into the mine, the company can delay the inspection. The Seco Train Accident September 20, 1917, New Bank in the Coal Country Installed in 1911, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts, https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/new-deal/national-industrial-recovery-act-of-1933/, https://pipiwiki.com/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County_War, https://labornotes.org/blogs/2019/08/brief-history-harlan-county-usa, 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, 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, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70804679/elmon-clay-middleton, https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/06/archives/kentucky-holds-four-in-auto-bomb-killing-harlan-prosecutors-death.html, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?fbclid=IwAR21nYphw4Dul-_EwuAmSWgzsvPLNwsMM0FtV75j0y-mGUHq-lCZjJxZot8, The Flatwoods Monster: Weird Appalachia Cases, Rotherwood Mansion: Weird Appalachia Cases, The Brown Mountain Ghostly Lights: Weird Appalachia Cases. On top of that, we learn later, the union is spending $108,000 a year for medical and hospital coverage for the striking miners and their families. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Grace Elizabeth Hale. 9:03 PM. We come into Harlan County at dusk. If you protested this safety violation, he says, "the boss would just say, 'Run it.'" Neither will Dr. Robert Coles, psychiatrist and author of Children of Crisis. There are still ongoing strikes today and the violence in Harlan County Continues. A thousand feet below me lies a small, green valley, partly shrouded by the morning mist. This was not just a flashy slogan, and the truth of it is . There were only three cars in the motorcade each of which contained a sheriffs deputy. The most memorable of those are 1964, 1966, 1969 (The West Virginia Black Lung strike that the miners won) 1971, and the 1974 Strikes. And I can't get you off of that couch. The records show that Beach was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1954 and sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, that he was later charged with carrying a concealed pistol (no disposition shown), and that in 1966 he was tried and acquitted on a murder charge. 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. When Barbara finishes her answer, Wirtz raises a clenched fist and says, "Right on!" In one of these, the septic tank has been out of order for several months. Harlan County, Kentucky is known for two things: bituminous coal and Bloody Harlan. ", What about the Southern Labor Union? When the smoke had cleared, the bodies of three guards and one miner were found, and an undetermined number of other dead and dying had been carried away into the mountains. They range in age from about twenty-one to seventy. She says that the women decided that they couldn't fight guns with switches and that they had taken sticks with them the next time. These charities began to give aid to blacklisted miners who were unable to find employment as the soup kitchens had closed once the NMU had closed its doors. 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.". I can see twenty-five miles to the southeast, five ridges. No one knows who fired the first shot but when it was over four were . June 17th of that same year, the first strike was over as the last miner had returned to work. 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." But, Aaronson says, Norman Yarborough had then called back to say, simply, that there was nothing of further interest to them in the negotiations More public pressure on Duke is needed, he says. 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. 5355, atEvarts . Coal companies refused to back down while the Red Cross refused to give aid . "My daddy's a retired coal miner, and he's got the black lung. 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 . 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. She's been picketing with the other women. Does the Association hire for all the mines in the county? They are merely a service organization, Yarborough says. A reporter asks us again how we can expect to make an unbiased report when we've heard only one side. It took forty-five minutes for someone to come and help get him out, Deaton says. 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. The kind of house she would like, if she could find one, would rent for about $50 a month, but she and her husband cannot pay that much. 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. those in the Harlan County Coal Operators . The women spent the night. "Then he'd come out looking like a sheep-killing dog and get in his truck and run. Don Dalton, UMW Safety Director for Region Six, explains this. The county was once part of Knox County, only becoming official in 1819. Free shipping for many products! the foreman would just say, "We gotta run coal. He says that they do not need the UMW to look after them; he will do that. October 31, 2016. A rural county of 27,000, Harlan County's average household income is about $29,000. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Which Side are You on? Big Boy. Several folk singers and other artists toured the United States to raise money during the strikes. Past that, the other undulating ridges are blue and hazy. We look back on the film, which screens this Sunday, February . I've talked to Norman Yarborough, and you ain't bringing no union down here. On Friday, March 25, a continuous mining machine operator was killed by a wall collapse at the Huff Creek No. The slab of slate, more than 51 feet long, and 17 feet wide and weighing tons, was dodged by two men. We first hear from a number of the striking miners about safety conditions in the Brookside mine. Harry Simms, who was a Young Communist League organizer was killed in Harlan. But will Norman Yarborough ever agree to recognize the UMW? Herndon J. Evans, the editor of the Pineville Sun, argued, The troubles of the coal industry had their inception in war times. "I've seen some hurt and some killed. And, even so, it usually takes forty-five minutes to an hour for the inspector to get from mine entrance to the face of the coal. Others say they intend to speak and write about what they have heard. I'm standing at 2800 feet above sea level. 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. It is the second coal mining fatality in . "A gun thug pulled a gun on us, and I broke a switch over his head, and the little gun thug pulled out," Lois Scott says matter-of-factly. But mostly the scenery is depressingly bleak. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In Harlan County, Kentucky, the 1931 Battle of Evarts ended in four deaths. Done. We drive through the streets of the town of Harlan, past the stores and houses, past the Harlan Baptist Church with a sign out front which reads: "If you are unkind, you are the wrong kind." A young woman from the Associated Press asks me, aren't we getting only one side of the story? "Roof falls are a constant hazard, but the bosses just keep on rushin'.". "We could lay down, fight the police, or let them scabs go to work. Crossing the Clinch River, we turn onto Highway 421 and leave the modern world. So we lay down in the road." "I don't know nothing about the electrical part." This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Daniels was one of the most hated deputies in the county due to his anti-union views. Sometimes, they'll be a black scum on the rag." The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. 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.". It is clear that these women have been a main factor in keeping the mine shut down. After breakfast, we travel fifteen miles east to Evarts. The Kentucky mining camps still had the paternalism idea in their mists and the ever-independent Appalachian people were not having it. Si says Harlan is a dry countyno legal liquor and no beer. Willard Wirtz asks how it will all come out, how the strike will end. 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%. When filmmaker Barbara Kopple traveled to Harlan County, Kentucky, the resulting Academy award-winning documentary, Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) captured a historic story. Those with running water rent for around $20 a month, plus electricity. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Miners laid in an ambush on the day of May 5, 1931, near the Evarts railroad crossing. On February 16, 1931, in order to prevent operating at a loss, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%. 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. Two more Inquiry panel members join us, Willard Wirtz, who was Secretary of Labor under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and the Reverend Max Glenn, executive director of the Commission on Religion in Appalachia. Find the perfect harlan county coal stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. It is thought that Middleton was assassinated for backing troops who were present in the County to protect the miners. Breaks in the cable, they say, are often just wrapped with mask-ing tape and exposed again to the water. Bill Doan says, "When I got hurt, I couldn't find Jim Miller, the man who had charge of the sick fund." those in the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association, were run as open shops from October 27, 1933 - March 31, 1935. ", "They've done discriminated me," Grover Jennings continues. "This troubles me; I don't sleep," Yarborough says. Four men were arrested in connection with this murder. 1 negative : glass ; 4 x 5 in. Paternalism is the practice of people who have a business or other authority to restrict the freedoms of those who are subordinate to them. They have probably helped keep their own men from exploding too. 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. In response, the United Mine Workers of America attempted to organize the miners. Harlan County. Finally, in 1939, the coal companies agreed to allow unions in their coal mine operations. "Try walking out of there, carrying a man with a broken back," one of the miners says. Harlan County to unionize miners. There is a hard edge in her voice, and her blue-gray eyes are flashing. . The miners say that, somehow, management always knows when the government inspectors are coming. Done. Office files covering topics such as "accounts receivable," "baseball club," "coal production," "garnishment orders," "Harlan Coal Operator's Association," "labor conditions," "medical conditions . Funeral Wednesday March 1 at 11 a.m. at Grays Knob Bible Church. But is it really hurting? 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. 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. The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. Kentucky communities discussed include Artemus, Burdine, Jenkins, Jellico, Van Lear, and Wheelwright; and Kentucky counties include Bell, Clay, Floyd, Harlan . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Poffitt, Jacqueline Brophy, and I meet the other members of the Citizens Inquiry in a private dining room in the Mount Aire: James David Barber, chairman of the Political Science Department at Duke University and author of The Presidential Character; Monsignor Geno Baroni, president of the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs, a Catholic priest whose father is a retired Pennsylvania miner with black lung; Barbara Bode, president of the Children's Foundation in Washington; and Dr. Raymond Wheeler of Charlotte, North Carolina, president of the Southern Regional Council. While it succeeded in organizing thousands of miners, it failed to complete a bargaining agreement with Harlan County's coal operators. Three of the federal reports state that there was no safety committee at Brookside, as required by law. Someone had planted dynamite in his automobile and when he started it up the car blew up. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. knee-deep in water, he has experienced many electrical shocks. Two hundred people crowd. The judge's fines and sentences were appealed. Soon after the "Battle of Evarts," novelist Theodore Dreiser led a citizens' group to Harlan County to find and publicize the bloody facts. The decrease in wages, unemployment, and irregular employment caused "poverty, hunger, and disease.". It is not all Duke's fault by any means. 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." Burger Chef. On September 4, 1935, Harlan County Attorney Elmon Clay Middleton, age 31, was assassinated by a car bomb containing eighteen sticks of dynamite. Typical of counties with low income, counties where the mine companies own everything and pay low taxes, our UMW driver says. The strikebreakers were under the protection of private mine guards. Here, too, are some of the richest natural resources in the countryand some of the poorest people. "The way I figured it, they done that because it was just a faster, way of getting coal." Fifty miners and their wives have at one time or another been held in contempt of this order. As correspondent Bob Simon reports, 47 miners died, six of them from just one county in eastern Kentucky . The Price of Coal, Part II. Enforcing the operators' political will, both within and outside the law, was the Harlan County Coal Operators Association. ~~ David Sergent. And, all around, there are the rolling mountains, covered with second-growth timber. Pricing; Switch; Big firm; One night, they saw a secretary for the Dreiser group enter Dreiser's hotel room, and they placed toothpicks against the door to determine whether she ever came back out during the night. 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. By 1908 the union had . In Harlan County, Kentucky, are some of our country's richest natural resourcesand some of its poorest people. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. But, I say, even without further investigation of each of the complaints, it is possible to conclude that fear is an everyday part of the miners' lives. Partial Transcript: August 27, '86. 2012: $1,552,717. "I don't try to blacklist anybody," he says. Norman Yarborough, head of Eastover Mining Company, is not coming either. [videorecording] Contributor(s): Kopple, Barbara; First-Run Features (Firm) Cabin Creek Films; Publication details: New York : First Run Features, 1976. . I have taken several classes in Journalism as well as in the Appalachian History, Literature, and Sociology during my time at those schools. by Ron Soodalter. There were only nine hundred miners working and 5,800 miners were idle and striking during the first strike. In response, the coal owners and operators decided to sell their fuel at below cost to increase the national dependency on coal. We soon get into a discussion about Dreiser's 1931 inquiry. California labor activist Caroline Decker also raised money for the relief of the striking miner efforts. Before this war was over it is not known exactly how many miners, coal operators, deputies, and bosses would be killed. Troops had to be called into the county three times to maintain order. The coal companies refused to back down from their positions and change anything. or smaller. Established in 1916, its membership consisted of nearly all the large mining companies, and it represented the major political force in the county. She speaks in a soft, pleasant voice. Now, along a cloudy green stream, or through deep cuts in the mountains, or high atop a timbered ridge, looking down on green quilt-patch valleys, we wind our way toward Harlan. Mostly, the miners were fighting for improved working conditions, higher wages, and better housing options for their families. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. You come out of there lookin' like a hog that's been rootin' in the mud.' The nearest ridge is green with spruce and pine. Her daughter, Bessie Cornett, an attractive young brunette, says, "I'm not in jail today because you people are here." Eight miners were sentenced to life in prison for the actions that were taken on May 5, 1931. It was Miller who defeated W. A. 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. When fuses blow, they are not immediately replaced; the cable is spliced or "hot-wired" around the fuse. Word precedes him. Copy as parenthetical citation. In response, the coal owners and operators decided to sell their fuel at below cost to increase the national dependency on coal. Only 23 percent of those in the county over the age of twenty-five have completed high school. Some of the women cut switches and joined the picketers. Based on this new Act, from October 27, 1933, to March 31, 1935, the mines ran as open shops. 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.

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