B.W. These interviews with major coal operators document their personal histories and the history of the coal industry in eastern Kentucky during the twentieth century. 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. 8 N.L.R.B. knee-deep in water, he has experienced many electrical shocks. 5355, atEvarts . Leroy Helton says miners often have to splice electrical cable, even though they're not qualified to do so. The miners say that, somehow, management always knows when the government inspectors are coming. 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. Yarborough replies. It comes to a bill of about $20,000 a week for the national union. KCA traces its origin to a statewide association of coal operators who united their efforts in 1942. Here, too, are some of the richest natural resources in the countryand some of the poorest people. One of the towns that were a refuge was Evarts, Kentucky. . "The danger's just the same," they say. "I've been juiced a lot, and I've had to just set down thirty-five minutes because it just takes the pep out of you." They file with us copies of specific federal safety violation reports, and they say that nothing was ever done to correct these violations. J. D. Skidmore says, "I have no chance of getting a job in Harlan County if this strike is not settled." 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. 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. 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. 2011: $1,161,330. A reporter asks us again how we can expect to make an unbiased report when we've heard only one side. Finally, in 1939, the coal companies agreed to allow unions in their coal mine operations. Two hundred people crowd. The miners say that they often have to stand knee-deep in water while handling 440-volt electrical cables. "I've had the foreman to tell me to set timbers or something until the inspector got gone. "This whole country is like a layer cake," Si Kahn says, "a layer cake of shale, coal, and sandstone. "But if they call me and ask if a man works for me, I simply say yes or no.". or smaller. It is thought that Middleton was assassinated for backing troops who were present in the County to protect the miners. James Willard Pope officiating. As correspondent Bob Simon reports, 47 miners died, six of them from just one county in eastern Kentucky . As in Germany, the AFSC used need alone to determine who got fed. Get a Demo. Though the union had made substantial inroads into the Central Appalachian coalfields by 1930, when miners in Bell and Harlan Counties went out on strike in early May, 1931, the UMWA removed its support. At first, heading northwest on modern Route 23, through Kingsport, Tennessee, Weber City, Virginia, and Gate City, Virginia, the sights are the same as almost everywhere else in America today. But relatives did come and take the children. The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. I remind her that Duke and Eastover executives were invited, and have refused to appear before us. Pay ranged from $17 to $32 day, the average being $25. The miners charge that the Harlan County Coal Operators Association is behind Eastover's refusal to sign a contract. Leroy Helton says he still owes a lot of bills that should have been paid by SLU. Harry Caudill, attorney and author of Night Comes to the Cumberlands, will not be able to join us in Harlan because of legal business. 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. Sudie Crusenberg, a plain woman in a cotton dress, gives us some idea of what life is like for a coal-mining family. Eight miners were sentenced to life in prison for the actions that were taken on May 5, 1931. 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. Looking for protection by the Kentucky National Guard, many were surprised to find that they broke the picket lines instead. Brophy's was the last reform insurgency against UMW leadership until Joseph Yablonski's fatal try. I have taken several classes in Journalism as well as in the Appalachian History, Literature, and Sociology during my time at those schools. It was a nearly decade-long conflict, lasting from 1931 to 1939. . They're trapped. "I don't like to handle that raw juice," he says. Yarborough's affidavit stated that "the group swarmed out into the roads, stopped cars, and forced company employees into coercive conversations and indulged in generally raucous name-calling and abuse." The unrest continues in Harlan and surrounding counties as there have been many strikes. Their activities began with a demonstration and march in Harlan on September 27, 1973. And you wondr why I keep running my mouth . The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This action did not go unnoticed by the labor unions and the United Mine Workers union decided to attempt to organize the already-impoverished labor force of the area. Harlan County Coal Operators' Association. Dateline New York City, November 13, 1931: Dreiser again denies the charge and adds, "Even if it were true, I wouldn't give a damn. Is that the only objection that is holding up a settlement? The transcript will be published as a book. "Yarborough says he just don't want nobody tellin' him how to run his mine," Deaton says. Copy with citation. What a marvelous view! There are still ongoing strikes today and the violence in Harlan County Continues. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. The coal companies refused to back down from their positions and change anything. "Dreiser, Woman Indicted," one headline reads. The motorcade stopped and the deputies got out of their cars to return fire. Mrs. Herschel Gaw, wife of the ailing jailer, locked them all up. It doesn't seem like enough. A third generation coal operator, he served as President of the Harlan County Coal Operators and the Harlan Mining Institute, as Vice President of the Kentucky Coal Association and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Associated Industries of Kentucky. Up at seven on a Monday morning, I walk out onto the balcony of my motel room. "The personal is political" was a rallying cry of second wave feminism. They have probably helped keep their own men from exploding too. 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 . Miners laid in an ambush on the day of May 5, 1931, near the Evarts railroad crossing. It has assets worth $2.5 billion. She talks about hiding behind cars on the picket line for protection from the "gun thugs." She talks about a standoff against Basil Collins and the scabs and gun thugs. 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. 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. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. They say no action has been taken on this report. 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." Copy as parenthetical citation. Three Harlan County incorporated towns were not owned by the coal mines, they became a sanctuary for the evicted and starving miners. 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. Most of the land is owned by the mining companies. The warrant was never served. The radical ideology of the union began gaining some ground in the mountains. Bright yellow forsythia has begun to bloom in the yards of Harlan and Brookside and Evarts. 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. The miners could be fired if they refused to spend their paychecks only in the store. We feel that we have provided a national forum for the miners to tell their story. "You could hunt for one, but there just weren't one there," he says. safety director for the Harlan County Coal Operators Association; Moss Paterson, chief of the State Bureau of Mines and Minerals, and State and Federal mine inspectors. 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.". Freda Armes says, "I run him off. There are very few vacant houses in Harlan County and virtually no available land to build on. Midway in the trial, Judge Hogg dismissed the jury and directed a verdict of guilty. 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. The Kentucky Coal Association is an IRS designated 501 (c) (6) nonprofit organization that aims to educate its members and the public of coal production and safety in the state of Kentucky. I have been married to David W. Sergent since May 4, 2013. Isolated trailer houses. I glance at the new Piedmont magazine, Pace. The Brookside labor dispute erupted spontaneously soon after Miller's election. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. On September 4, 1935, Harlan County Attorney Elmon Clay Middleton, age 31, was assassinated by a car bomb containing eighteen sticks of dynamite. In one of these, the septic tank has been out of order for several months. Our delegation arrives on time at the Eastover office in Brookside. Bill Doan says, "When I got hurt, I couldn't find Jim Miller, the man who had charge of the sick fund." That means, among other things, an average daily wage of $45. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Which Side are You on? We look back on the film, which screens this Sunday, February . "Boss walks up and says, 'We've got to make this mine look good now, boys; the inspector's comin','" Jerry Johnson says. McDonald's. He decided to make Harlan County a test case in the UMW's new, more aggressive organizing efforts. Each of us makes a statement. 1931, only $13.5 million. 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. And always there is a murky roadside stream, beech and sycamore trees lining its banks. Don Dalton, UMW Safety Director for Region Six, explains this. "If we could monitor these inspections, perhaps we could cut down on the fatalities," he says. To prevent operating at a loss, on February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association decided to cut all wages by ten . We come into Harlan County at dusk. The miners speak of other dissatisfactions with Eastover and the old Southern Labor Union contract. Mine operators viciously opposed miners' efforts to unionize, particularly in Harlan County. 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. He was transferred to a worse section, he says. Miners die, and last year was the deadliest in American coal mines in more than a decade. In the bloody 1930s coal wars, miners known to be union members were fired and evicted from company-owned homes. Jacqueline Brophy asks why public services have broken down. Hennen attributes this abandonment to the increasingly conservative John L. Lewis, the longtime and powerful president of the UMWA, who feared . "Roof falls are a constant hazard, but the bosses just keep on rushin'.". 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." On Jan. 25, 1890, a new union, the United Mine Workers of America, was formed, and in 1903 its young president, John Mitchell, led the union on a successful 24-week strike. Yellow-dog contracts (Contracts where the employees agreed to never organize into a union before they were employed with a coal company), company unions, blacklists, all tactics that were employed by the companies to bust up unions, and discrimination-based on union activity were all outlawed under this act. All during the day they worked in shifts, trying to penetrate to the point where the explosion occurred. James Sizemore says that frequently float dust, which is dangerously explosive, would get too heavy in the mine, and he would complain, but that. Louis Stacy that he has several times been running a defective roofbolting machine when word came that inspector was on his way. Neither will Dr. Robert Coles, psychiatrist and author of Children of Crisis. This was not just a flashy slogan, and the truth of it is . In response to the violence, the Kentucky National Guard was called upon and arrived for the first time in the county to try to stem the violence. I have two children and four grandchildren from a previous marriage. Unlike the previous Coal Wars that took place in West Virginia with the Paint-Creek Strike of 1912 and Matewan that lasted for a year or two. 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. He can't never walk again." The main problem, he says, is that the company wants a "no-strike" clause, so that the union cannot strike during the contract period. The nearest ridge is green with spruce and pine. We first hear from a number of the striking miners about safety conditions in the Brookside mine. We are told that Eastover has announced its intention to tear down the mining-camp houses and move the striking miners out. In 1981, he traded coal mining for gold mining as one of the founders of the current . 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. The judge's fines and sentences were appealed. 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 was Miller who defeated W. A. [ 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%. Yarborough tells us that the company does not now object to paying the miners for portal-to-portal time for inside mine work, but that the union wants comparability for outside workers too, in effect requiring the company to pay outside workers overtime for all work in excess of a seven and-a-quarter-hour regular day. On February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association reduced wages for miners in that part of eastern Kentucky by 10 percent. Strikebreakers were often beaten. From July 30, 2019, through September 28, 2019, coal miners and their families have blocked roads and railways demanding their payment. After this, the first strike occurred, in which only about 13% of strikers showed up to work. Cite. The men and women were released on good behavior. 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. the foreman would just say, "We gotta run coal. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The most shocking moment in Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) looks at first like an abstract painting. Others say they intend to speak and write about what they have heard. 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. 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. 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. "Yeah," a coal miner says, "but the land's so poor, you can't hardly raise an umbrella on it.". Harlan, city, seat of Harlan county, southeastern Kentucky, U.S., in the Cumberland Mountains, on the Clover Fork Cumberland River. I've got five living children and four dead. ", 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. 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. There is one ostentatious feature about him, though: a large, multi-diamond ring on the third finger of his left hand. On May 24, 1931, Sheriff Blair rescinded the miners right to assemble and tear-gassed a union rally. ", What about the Southern Labor Union? McQueen says that in late 1972 he burned his fingers to the bone on a switchbox where a blown fuse had been hot-wired. October 31, 2016. Along the way, we pass through the community of Brookside, its mine-camp houses dominated by the brooding tin presence of the Eastover mine building on the hill. Exist Dates. Fifty miners and their wives have at one time or another been held in contempt of this order. It is not all Duke's fault by any means. The group included John Dos Passos, Sherwood Anderson, and a number of other writers and artists. Harlan County. The National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP) was of the American Communist Party. One of the Deputies was Jim Daniels. But you must remember I am an immoral man. [videorecording] Contributor(s): Kopple, Barbara; First-Run Features (Firm) Cabin Creek Films; Publication details: New York : First Run Features, 1976. . In response, the coal owners and operators decided to sell their fuel at below cost to increase the national dependency on coal. There were only three cars in the motorcade each of which contained a sheriffs deputy. Crossing the Clinch River, we turn onto Highway 421 and leave the modern world. The miners express extreme dissatisfaction with Eastover's medical and retirement benefits. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. The union abandoned its efforts after less than a year. The county became nationally famous in 1931 and 1932 when it was the site of one of the earliest and bloodiest labor battles of the decade. "They didn't say nothin'; all they want's coal.' 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. Tuesday morning: Norman Yarborough has agreed to meet some of our group. But will Norman Yarborough ever agree to recognize the UMW? 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. I look at the government statistics once more. HARLAN COUNTY COAL OPERATORS ASSOCIATION. ", We break for lunch, prepared by the women of the Evarts Community Center. 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. Done. The money was . Their General Secretary recently released some facts which help to illustrate the reason for much of the unemployment in the county. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Garbage along the roadside. Altogether, it is a heavy financial burden for the UMW. 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. 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. Harlan County to unionize miners. Three of the federal reports state that there was no safety committee at Brookside, as required by law. Some of the women say they haven't had a drink of water since moving to the Brookside camp. By 1908 the union had . Make your practice more effective and efficient with Casetext's legal research suite. United States Washington D.C. District of Columbia Washington D.C . What will happen now that the first full year after the union election is ending? He is a sturdily built, self-assured man of about fifty, with a strong, square jaw and a rough, weathered face. Strike benefits are $100 weekly for a family, $90 for a couple, and $80 for a single man. The final straw was when the Harlan County Coal Operators Association cut miners' wages by 10%. Expand. If those under them behave in an approved manner then they receive housing, work, food, and other perks of their position. Figure 2: Harlan County Coal Mine Employment, 2000-2016, (KYEEC, 2017) In 1942, shortly after Harlan County experienced record high coal mine employment, the county experienced is highest production levels with 15.6 million tons of coal being produced in this year (KYEEC, 2017). Funeral Wednesday March 1 at 11 a.m. at Grays Knob Bible Church. : The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-39 (Paperback) at the best online prices at eBay! 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. They range in age from about twenty-one to seventy. 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. It reports that "Piedmont" is an adjective derived.from Italian words that literally mean "formed at the foot of the mountains." Five miles north of Harlan, we drive up Inspiration Mountain. "My daddy's a retired coal miner, and he's got the black lung. Back in my motel room, a gathering place, Bernie Aaronson of UMW says that the union is paying strike benefits and medical bills for the 160 strikers. Nannie Rainey takes us into her four-room house where she and her husband and five children live. 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.". Harlan, district mine inspector of the State Department of Mines and Minerals, and James Bryson, safety director, Harlan County Coal Operators Association. 2012: $1,552,717. ~~ David Sergent. Other times, he says, "Roof was workin', rock was a-hangin', and it sounded like thunder. 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. Blair. Duke Power Company appears to be the key to breaking the deadlock in negotiations. Only to be escorted to the county line and told not to return. They have done this only since the Brookside strike. It was settled in 1819 by Virginians led by Samuel Howard and was known as Mount Pleasant until renamed in 1912 for Major Silas Harlan, who was killed during the American Revolution at the Battle of Blue Licks (August 19, 1782). I have an Associates Degree from Hazard Community College and Technical School. The miners and the coal owners were still having disputes. This caused the clergy to denounce the union. A Committee was formed and conducted by Activist Theodore Dreiser under the auspices of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP). Only three of the families in the camp have indoor toilets. Done. When Barbara finishes her answer, Wirtz raises a clenched fist and says, "Right on!" In America, the word describes a region, including Harlan County, Kentucky, between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coast. 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. He sentenced nine men and seven women to six months in jail and fined them $500 each. The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. Office files covering topics such as "accounts receivable," "baseball club," "coal production," "garnishment orders," "Harlan Coal Operator's Association," "labor conditions," "medical conditions . It was two o'clock on a Monday morning when the accident occurred, and he'd been in the mine., more than twelve hours. It is beautiful in Harlan County, as pretty as any place in the world. 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. Interment at Resthaven Cemetery, Keith, Ky. Visitation 6-9 p.m. at the Grays Knob Bible Church. 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. Done Citation. The Price of Coal, Part II. Source for information on Harlan County: Encyclopedia of the Great Depression dictionary. We hope that you have enjoyed our stop in Bloody Harlan and the history of the longest and still ongoing coal struggles of the United States. "This troubles me; I don't sleep," Yarborough says. Violence erupted that would periodically repeat itself for the next eight years. had them make me go in and pin it because it wasn't done right the first time. They want portal-to-portal pay from the time they enter the mine until they leave it. Talking to Aaronson, I am reminded of an old tin sign I saw tacked on a tree along the highway as I left Harlan. There was an addition to where miners could choose their own representation for these negotiations. Pierce mentions the "toothpick incident." Interviews with residents of Hazard who discuss the coal miners' union, the harassment union miners faced from large mining companies, and the unofficial strikes that are being organized in Hazard County. The median family income is $4600 a year. A historical marker says we are near the Little Shepherd Trail, the setting for the novel Shepherd of the Hills. The Harlan County coal miners campaigned and fought to organize their workplaces and better their wages and working conditions. The Red Cross eventually became involved in the county along with several local charities. 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. those in the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association, were run as open shops from October 27, 1933 - March 31, 1935. Bobby Simpson, 79, has been blind for more than a half-century, but still managed to shovel coal. 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.
Ashley Furniture Going Out Of Business Sale,
Silly Solly's Opening Hours,
Police News Nimbin,
Articles H