As discussed in a previous video. They have probably helped keep their own men from exploding too. There's water in the mine because the pumps often won't work. This was not just a flashy slogan, and the truth of it is . 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. I'm standing at 2800 feet above sea level. Yarborough comes out of a staff meeting and ushers us hack to a large, paneled meeting room with folding tables and chairs. 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 . Battle of Evarts - Wikipedia Bobby's wife, Becky, who died in 2013, was a lifelong advocate for the people of Harlan County. Mine operators viciously opposed miners' efforts to unionize, particularly in Harlan County. The miners say that, somehow, management always knows when the government inspectors are coming. COMING THE BOYS OF HARLAN - The Washington Post At Washington's National Airport, I board Piedmont Airline's fat little silver jet on a Sunday afternoon in early March. Clyde V Bennett Jr. (1930-2000) - Find a Grave Memorial Three Point Mine Explosion "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." 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. Tuesday morning: Norman Yarborough has agreed to meet some of our group. 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.". A young woman from the Associated Press asks me, aren't we getting only one side of the story? Hazard County documentary / produced by H. Sinclair. - Internet Archive She talks about the women being armed with sticks, mace . Coal companies refused to back down while the Red Cross refused to give aid . ", 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." In response, the coal owners and operators decided to sell their fuel at below cost to increase the national dependency on coal. Expand. 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. Pierce has brought the actual Courier-Journal clippings about the Dreiser inquiry and shares them with us. The SLU was largely seen as serving the interests of the mine owners rather than the workers. The union abandoned its efforts after less than a year. And we're burning up people to make electricity. Prior to Miller's election, the union had become corrupt, dictatorial, and a frequent collaborator with the mine owners. A historical marker says we are near the Little Shepherd Trail, the setting for the novel Shepherd of the Hills. Or all you're gonna get's a chunk of Harlan County coal. Pistol Annies - Harlan County Coal Lyrics | Genius Lyrics The letter states that Eastover has now raised the wages in their other mines to the UMW scale and is paying the miners for time spent with the mine moving to and from the face of the coal. 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. The Brookside Women's Club of Harlan County - New York Women in Film During the Great Depression of the 1930s coal miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, struck against the coal operators for better pay and better working conditio. The Harlan County Coal Wars 1931-1939 - Kentucky Tennessee Living Domesticity and Depression: Kentucky Coal Mining, Song, and Organizing But you must remember I am an immoral man. Miner Curtis Cress, 34, says towns that . Only to be escorted to the county line and told not to return. They relate federal mine-safety figures which show that in 1971 the accident rate in the Brookside mine was three times the national average, and in 1972 was twice the national average. "Not at all," Yarborough says. 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. 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. Other times, he says, "Roof was workin', rock was a-hangin', and it sounded like thunder. There are very few vacant houses in the county. 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. "Faith, power, and conflict: Miner preachers and the United Mine Worker "The personal is political" was a rallying cry of second wave feminism. Does the Association hire for all the mines in 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 . 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%. The Act was an attempt to restructure the industrial sector of the economy and to alleviate unemployment with a public works program. 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. Garbage along the roadside. They just laughed about it, and we kept on cuttin' coal. For a time after the hearing, he says, it appeared that Duke had softened. Over one thousand shots were exchanged during those fifteen minutes. In the year of "the energy crisis," Coal is King again at $30 a ton. I was born in Florida and grew up in Burdine, Kentucky. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. By 1908 the union had . The sign man for R C Cola has worked this territory well. At first, there were little battles with gunshots being exchanged between the strikers and the private guards, and the local law enforcement agents. And always there is a murky roadside stream, beech and sycamore trees lining its banks. 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. 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. 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. The most shocking moment in Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) looks at first like an abstract painting. Isolated trailer houses. Forty percent of the county's dwellings lack some or all of plumbing, water, or toilet facilities. I don't like- workin' in them kind of conditions." After this, the first strike occurred, in which only about 13% of strikers showed up to work. 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. I can see twenty-five miles to the southeast, five ridges. Rev. They were convicted on charges of conspiracy to murder. 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. [ 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%. Attempts to organize led to the dismissal of employees who were suspected of having leanings toward the organization and having them evicted from their family homes. Mr. Blanton explained the reasoning behind coal camps. The aftermath of this battle led to wider strikes in the Harlan County area. Breaks in the cable, they say, are often just wrapped with mask-ing tape and exposed again to the water. "We've took about all we can take," he says. Harlan, Kentucky coal miner killed - World Socialist Web Site - wsws.org But will Norman Yarborough ever agree to recognize the UMW? These women have organized a special kind of feminist movement, and the issues to them are life-and-death issues. 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. That year, annual wages dropped from $1,235 to $749. You just don't hit a woman in Harlan County." "Try walking out of there, carrying a man with a broken back," one of the miners says. The bosses wouldn't go in, but I've. If those under them behave in an approved manner then they receive housing, work, food, and other perks of their position. She speaks in a soft, pleasant voice. 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." the foreman would just say, "We gotta run coal. Sheriff Blair was voted out of his office in 1933 and died just a year later. Drift mines back into the mountains follow the seam of coal wherever it goes." At Brookside, this would amount to $400,000 a year. (That is a tough point.) "Why couldn't the original thirteen colonies live with the same British policy that applied to all other British colonies?" Office files covering topics such as "accounts receivable," "baseball club," "coal production," "garnishment orders," "Harlan Coal Operator's Association," "labor conditions," "medical conditions . The decade-long conflict between miners and the coal operators who adamantly resisted unionization has been immortalized in folksong by Florence Reece and Aunt Molly Jackson, contemplated in prose by Theodore Dreiser and Sherwood Anderson, and long been obscured by . But is it really hurting? Thirty percent of the families lack automobiles. Bill Doan says, "When I got hurt, I couldn't find Jim Miller, the man who had charge of the sick fund." The judge's fines and sentences were appealed. They have done this only since the Brookside strike. On February 16, 1931, in order to prevent operating at a loss, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%. You come out of there lookin' like a hog that's been rootin' in the mud.' After nearly 40 years of working in coalmines, David . The warrant was never served. Si has signed on as head of the staff for the Citizens Inquiry, which is funded with a five-thousanddollar grant from the Field Foundation. Horn's letter questions the fair-mindedness of the inquiry members. 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. [Verse 2] I got 27 peopl coming over to this house. "This whole country is like a layer cake," Si Kahn says, "a layer cake of shale, coal, and sandstone. The next morning the toothpicks were still in place, it was said. To prevent operating at a loss, on February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association decided to cut all wages by ten . 1931, only $13.5 million. Three of the federal reports state that there was no safety committee at Brookside, as required by law. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) - Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) - User - IMDb 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." Leroy Helton says miners often have to splice electrical cable, even though they're not qualified to do so. The miners charge that the Harlan County Coal Operators Association is behind Eastover's refusal to sign a contract. During the rest of the afternoon, the miners talk about what has happened on the picket line and in the local court. One of the better houses is already being demolished. The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. There were ten lodges that were chartered for the National Miners Union. 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. No Neutrals: The Harlan County Miner's Strike of 1931 Strike benefits are $100 weekly for a family, $90 for a couple, and $80 for a single man. I look at the government statistics once more. Interview with Lois Scott, August 27, 1986 - Nunn Center There were only three cars in the motorcade each of which contained a sheriffs deputy. (Eastover offered fifty cents a ton.) Another press member criticizes Barbara Bode for having raised a clenched fist during the women's testimony. The three houses with baths rent for $24 a month, plus $14 a month for electricity. Interview Summary. 5355 after Local Union 4495 at Black Mountain folded up. 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. Based on this new Act, from October 27, 1933, to March 31, 1935, the mines ran as open shops. "I cain't get a job nowhere in this county. Since the county began mining, over one billion tons of coal have It is not all Duke's fault by any means. 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. CBS is represented by a camera crew, and there are a number of national reporters. Neither will Dr. Robert Coles, psychiatrist and author of Children of Crisis. Done. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Which Side are You on? "Then he'd come out looking like a sheep-killing dog and get in his truck and run. 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. Harlan County in eastern Kentucky, which has been brought out into the spotlight this summer by the violence with which the local Coal Operators' Association has carried on this attack, is, as far as I can find out, a pretty good medium exhibit of the entire industry: living conditions are better than in Alabama and perhaps a little worse . Is the safety provision in the UMW contract the sticking point for Eastover? 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. Hell in Harlan - front page It was Miller who defeated W. A. Our History - Kentucky Coal Association Source Citation [ }] Descriptive Note Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest. The company will probably demand a new election. While it succeeded in organizing thousands of miners, it failed to complete a bargaining agreement with Harlan County's coal operators. While their main objectives were a steady job, a decent wage and a program of safety checks . Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) - Plot - IMDb Harlan County U.S.A. by Felicia Elliott, August 2, 2016. There is a hard edge in her voice, and her blue-gray eyes are flashing. It is a warm night and at every bend in the asphalt road we hear a chorus of croaking frogs. Perched atop Inspiration Mountain is the modern Mount Aire Motel. Toilet paper clings to the bushes and tree limbs five or six feet up from the rushing stream. "The danger's just the same," they say. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Enforcing the operators' political will, both within and outside the law, was the Harlan County Coal Operators Association. However, after the dust was clear, the anti-labor coal country would end up being represented by unions. 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. Interment at Resthaven Cemetery, Keith, Ky. Visitation 6-9 p.m. at the Grays Knob Bible Church. Barbara Kopple 's Academy Award-winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners' strike in a small Kentucky town. Harlan County, KY, coal miners win affiliation with UMWA union, United Burger Chef. The men and women were released on good behavior. Pierce mentions the "toothpick incident." ", "They've done discriminated me," Grover Jennings continues. The Wagner Act of 1935 (National Labor Relations Act or NLRA) guaranteed the rights of workers to choose to organize. When Barbara finishes her answer, Wirtz raises a clenched fist and says, "Right on!" 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. Brophy's was the last reform insurgency against UMW leadership until Joseph Yablonski's fatal try. My brother died at the age of forty. 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.
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