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"In Harlan County, U.S.A., sound anchors, explains, and makes 'authentic' visual imagery compromised by the long history of documentary work in Appalachia.". 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. 4 . Grace Elizabeth Hale. Our driver points out Norman Yarborough's two-story frame house, across the highway from the camp and up out of the river bottom. 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. 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. Does the Association hire for all the mines in the county? She's been picketing with the other women. He fined the UMW $20,000. 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. Enforcing the operators' political will, both within and outside the law, was the Harlan County Coal Operators Association. To prevent operating at a loss, on February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association decided to cut all wages by ten . 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. J. D. Skidmore says that, back in the mines, the phones are always out of order, there is no transportation out until the end of the shift, and it's a one-hour walk to daylight. The coal companies refused to back down from their positions and change anything. In Harlan County, Kentucky, are some of our country's richest natural resourcesand some of its poorest people. The United Mine Workers union also cited that they did not have the resources to help in the battle. I glance at the new Piedmont magazine, Pace. 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. The miners say that they want their own safety committee, elected by the miners, as the standard UMW contract provides, with the right to walk out, losing their pay, when there is eminent danger in the mine. The local grand jury returned an indictment against Dreiser for adultery, but by that time Dreiser had finished his work and had left the county on the train. The Citizens Inquiry meets in the attractive, river-rock Evarts Community Center, directly across the Clear Fork from the site of the 1931 "Battle of Evarts." Only to be escorted to the county line and told not to return. 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. If you protested this safety violation, he says, "the boss would just say, 'Run it.'" That's an old term in Harlan County, used to describe special, plain-clothed guards. Our drive takes us upstream along the yellow-brown Clear Fork River. The Great Depression of 1929 through the late 1930s hit Harlan County Kentucky. The warrant was never served. She says that she and some of the other women hid out last night to avoid being served with a contempt citation from Judge Hogg's court. It is home to lawyers, doctors and coal operators; it has a hospital, several banks and a few fast-food . 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. Is that the only objection that is holding up a settlement? 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. There were constant beatings of the miners by the Sheriffs deputies. I have an Associates Degree from Hazard Community College and Technical School. The county was once part of Knox County, only becoming official in 1819. 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. Violence erupted that would periodically repeat itself for the next eight years. 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 members of the Inquiry panel leave the Community Center to visit the coal camp at Brookside-rows of delapidated frame houses, identical except for their weathering gray, green, red, and beige paint. They are neatly and attractively dressed. Two hundred people crowd. 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. Pricing; Switch; Big firm; Interment at Resthaven Cemetery, Keith, Ky. Visitation 6-9 p.m. at the Grays Knob Bible Church. "They sent me to 'Waterhole No. . Throughout 1931, violence sprouted between miners Coal employment in Harlan county dropped 53.7% in the second quarter of this year compared with last year, driven by Blackjewel's bankruptcy. Daniels was one of the most hated deputies in the county due to his anti-union views. Bobby's wife, Becky, who died in 2013, was a lifelong advocate for the people of Harlan 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 . The company will probably demand a new election. 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 . During the rest of the afternoon, the miners talk about what has happened on the picket line and in the local court. In one of these, the septic tank has been out of order for several months. 1 negative : glass ; 4 x 5 in. Whitfield's family was from Alabama where his father had been in the coal business. The officials were listed were the "veteran safety director of the Harlan Coal Operators Association, and Rufus Bailey and H. Hamlin, state . The Act was an attempt to restructure the industrial sector of the economy and to alleviate unemployment with a public works program. The trees are barely beginning to bud in the early March warmth. They were convicted on charges of conspiracy to murder. Wanted to be able to spend their money at a store of their choice besides the Black Mountain Coal Company store. There is a hard edge in her voice, and her blue-gray eyes are flashing. Only three of the families in the camp have indoor toilets. 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. 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. Harlan County. The prospects for settlement do not look good unless Duke begins to feel public pressure. KCA traces its origin to a statewide association of coal operators who united their efforts in 1942. Our delegation arrives on time at the Eastover office in Brookside. . Sadly, the state and federal troops would occupy the county several times. 2012: $1,552,717. After nearly 40 years of working in coalmines, David . Others say they intend to speak and write about what they have heard. We're all involved. It seems to me that for a great many people in Harlan County-for poor people and a lot of coal miners the whole county is a jail. Pay ranged from $17 to $32 day, the average being $25. This caused the clergy to denounce the union. "I don't know nothing about the electrical part." "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. As part of his New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented and had passed the National Industrial Act. "They don't want miners havin' any say in safety." Apparently, this is one of Eastover's major objections. 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. Three Point, Harlan County, Kentucky September 16, 1943 No. The men and women were released on good behavior. It was two o'clock on a Monday morning when the accident occurred, and he'd been in the mine., more than twelve hours. After breakfast, we travel fifteen miles east to Evarts. Thirty percent of the families lack automobiles. Mostly, the miners were fighting for improved working conditions, higher wages, and better housing options for their families. In the year of "the energy crisis," Coal is King again at $30 a ton. On September 4, 1935, Harlan County Attorney Elmon Clay Middleton, age 31, was assassinated by a car bomb containing eighteen sticks of dynamite. 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. It read: RE-ELECT GAW, JAILER. The Harlan County coal miners campaigned and fought to organize their workplaces and better their wages and working conditions. It is clear that these women have been a main factor in keeping the mine shut down. Dixon and union leaders worry that the union's disappearance in Kentucky has opened the door for coal operators to . All during the day they worked in shifts, trying to penetrate to the point where the explosion occurred. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Louis Stacy that he has several times been running a defective roofbolting machine when word came that inspector was on his way. He is a sturdily built, self-assured man of about fifty, with a strong, square jaw and a rough, weathered face. Five miles north of Harlan, we drive up Inspiration Mountain. They exercised their powers with impunity and operated under Sheriff J.H. But you must remember I am an immoral man. Whitfield recalls working in his father's coal mines during the first years of commercial mining in Harlan County, and he describes the conditions. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. 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. 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. No one knows who fired the first shot but when it was over four were . 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. James Willard Pope officiating. Seen 'em carried out on a stretcher," she says. We drive to the Evarts Community Center and report to the other members of the Citizens Inquiry. Make your practice more effective and efficient with Casetext's legal research suite. 25 (N.L.R.B. 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." "But if they call me and ask if a man works for me, I simply say yes or no.". The decrease in wages, unemployment, and irregular employment caused "poverty, hunger, and disease.". "With all those state police, we knew we had three choices," she says. Chicago citation style: Harris & Ewing, photographer. There was no standard contract for the miners. 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. This law was enacted to try to reverse the hardships to those who were out of a job because of the economic collapse of the Great Depression. Mine operators viciously opposed miners' efforts to unionize, particularly in Harlan County. Kahn says that the miners were encouraged by Eastover's management, headed by Norman Yarborough, to join a small "company union," the Southern Labor Union. 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. He then answers a question he wasn't asked. Troops had to be called into the county three times to maintain order. Pierce mentions the "toothpick incident." The union abandoned its efforts after less than a year. 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. As the motorcade approached a single shot rang out in the air. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. 5355 after Local Union 4495 at Black Mountain folded up. But is it really hurting? Some of the women cut switches and joined the picketers. So we lay down in the road." Looking for protection by the Kentucky National Guard, many were surprised to find that they broke the picket lines instead. 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.". The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-39 (Paperback) at the best online prices at eBay! The three houses with baths rent for $24 a month, plus $14 a month for electricity. That means, among other things, an average daily wage of $45. I'm standing at 2800 feet above sea level. The accident was the second worst mine fatality in the history of Harlan County coal mining, the worst being Harlan Fuel Company . 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.". There were shots exchanged and all three deputies and one striker were killed. Captain James Cromer of the state police later tells news reporters, "The women are a problem. Strikebreakers were often beaten. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. "I don't like to handle that raw juice," he says. . Herndon J. Evans, the editor of the Pineville Sun, argued, The troubles of the coal industry had their inception in war times. "The danger's just the same," they say. My man was mashed up in the mines. The Brookside labor dispute erupted spontaneously soon after Miller's election. Trailer parks called Walnut Grove, Mobile Manor, and Mesa Village Mobile Manor. Some seventy-five state policemen were on hand as the crowd gathered. (That is a tough point.) Bobby Simpson, 79, has been blind for more than a half-century, but still managed to shovel coal. . These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Horn's letter questions the fair-mindedness of the inquiry members. Why is garbage left on the roadway? She speaks in a soft, pleasant voice. I've read that in its heyday, the Blackjoe coal camp consisted of 60 or so houses. 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. He run all the way down the stairs and out of the jail." The mining company had ordered a motorcade to deliver food and supplies to the strikebreakers known as Scabs. Their General Secretary recently released some facts which help to illustrate the reason for much of the unemployment in the county. Word precedes him. That commitment has never waivered, and has grown . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The UMW union called in the National Guard to help them. One of the Deputies was Jim Daniels. Toilet paper clings to the bushes and tree limbs five or six feet up from the rushing stream.