Blaine Sergent, coal leader, putting up his check at the end of a workday in Harlan County, Kentucky, in 1946. PDF "I Am a Union Woman": Gender, Class, and Folk Music in The Harlan Harlan County War History, Impact, The Free Encyclopedia Our delegation arrives on time at the Eastover office in Brookside. 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. We agree that most of us lean toward the miners, but we think we can be fair in trying to learn the facts. Harlan County Coal Operators' Association. - Details - SNAC But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The Coal Strike of 1902: Turning Point in U.S. Policy The miners express extreme dissatisfaction with Eastover's medical and retirement benefits. Willard Wirtz says that it is important to remember that one side of the dispute felt confident enough about their case to arrange to spread it before the widest possible audience. "They sent me to 'Waterhole No. Home - Harlan County Harlan County U.S.A. by Felicia Elliott, August 2, 2016. Grace Elizabeth Hale. The distance a miner had to walk and how time was looked at was in 15-minute increments. Documents the 1973 Kentucky coal miners' strike against the operators of the Brookside mine and the Duke Power Company, which resulted from the company's refusal to honor the . 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. 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. One of the better houses is already being demolished. The miners speak of other dissatisfactions with Eastover and the old Southern Labor Union contract. 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. It is home to lawyers, doctors and coal operators; it has a hospital, several banks and a few fast-food . The National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP) was of the American Communist Party. No one knows who fired the first shot but when it was over four were . "Roof falls are a constant hazard, but the bosses just keep on rushin'.". He fined the UMW $20,000. 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. Before this war was over it is not known exactly how many miners, coal operators, deputies, and bosses would be killed. Looking for protection by the Kentucky National Guard, many were surprised to find that they broke the picket lines instead. Faith Primitive Baptist Church. Altogether, it is a heavy financial burden for the UMW. The remaining workforce then went on strike as a sign of solidarity with those that were fired from their jobs. Partial Transcript: August 27, '86. [ 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%. He says that he will not agree to the Brookside contract applying to "all" of Eastover's operations. 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. When drafting these articles, I found that many things have not been taught to the future generations about the struggles for coal miner rights have been in the Appalachian Mountains. Thirty percent of the families lack automobiles. But is it really hurting? With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to . We are joined by Bernie Aaronson, the young public relations director of the UMW, and John Ed Pierce, a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal. The miners and the coal owners were still having disputes. I remind her that Duke and Eastover executives were invited, and have refused to appear before us. There was an addition to where miners could choose their own representation for these negotiations. Done. I have also attended the University of Pikeville. "Not at all," Yarborough says. Source for information on Harlan County: Encyclopedia of the Great Depression dictionary. They exercised their powers with impunity and operated under Sheriff J.H. It has assets worth $2.5 billion. There were constant beatings of the miners by the Sheriffs deputies. Following this episode, the women say, Norman Yarborough asked Judge Hogg to hold the UMW and a number of miners and women in contempt of the Judge's order limiting the number of picketers to six. On May 5, 1931 the pot boiled over; in Harlan County Kentucky, heavily armed deputies and company men, called "gun thugs" by miners, confronted disgruntled union men on a road near Evarts. Si Kahn says that Eastover tried for a time to operate the mine with "scabs," but that the mine was shut down when the coal miners' wives and other women joined the men on the picket line. 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. The committee has invited owners as well as workers to participate in the hearings, but the impression we get is that management will not appear. "I don't know nothing about the electrical part." On May 24, 1931, Sheriff Blair rescinded the miners right to assemble and tear-gassed a union rally. The magazine presents a different picture of the people and conditions in the Piedmont region than the one I am to see in Harlan County, Kentucky. They're trapped. 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. 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. If those under them behave in an approved manner then they receive housing, work, food, and other perks of their position. The Harlan County Coal War is one of the . Done. The warrant was never served. Life After Coal in Harlan County, U.S.A. - In These Times 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." Now and then, there is a neat, new frame house or a Pic and Pay market between scattered tarpaper shacks. This was thirteen percent of the workers showing up for their scheduled work times. The Brookside Women's Club of Harlan County - New York Women in Film 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. Nonunion workers were attempting to leave the mine. (Eastover, to repeat, now pays portal-to-portal wages for inside workers in its other mines and has raised the wages of nonstrikers to the UMW level.) 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. Even pop culture cannot ignore its impact with such shows as Justified. They point out that most of the big coal companies, such as U.S. Steel and others, have signed UMW contracts, but that the smaller companies of eastern Kentucky have held out. When they went to jail, they say, some of the women took their children with them. Her daughter, Bessie Cornett, an attractive young brunette, says, "I'm not in jail today because you people are here." "But if they call me and ask if a man works for me, I simply say yes or no.". Which Side are You On? : The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-39 After breakfast, we travel fifteen miles east to Evarts. Some of the women say they haven't had a drink of water since moving to the Brookside camp. 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. It was a nearly decade-long conflict, lasting from 1931 to 1939. . The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. Troops had to be called into the county three times to maintain order. Harlan County. 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. A reporter asks us again how we can expect to make an unbiased report when we've heard only one side. They say no action has been taken on this report. The slab of slate, more than 51 feet long, and 17 feet wide and weighing tons, was dodged by two men. Done Citation. The money was . Get a Demo. Miners also wanted the right to organize and have a union. Toilet paper clings to the bushes and tree limbs five or six feet up from the rushing stream. In Harlan County, Kentucky, the 1931 Battle of Evarts ended in four deaths. 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. Jacqueline Brophy asks why public services have broken down. 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. We first hear from a number of the striking miners about safety conditions in the Brookside mine. We return to our series on the Coal Wars of the United States with Bloody Harlan and the Battle for Evarts. The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-39 (Paperback) at the best online prices at eBay! Interview with Lois Scott, August 27, 1986 - Nunn Center Here, too, are some of the richest natural resources in the countryand some of the poorest people. We never would find out what happened. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The county was once part of Knox County, only becoming official in 1819.
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