Life in a Coal Camp would not be referred to as the Good ol Days!
The Good 'Ol Days?
The men depended on their job in every single part of life. The Coal Camps were Communities owned by the Coal Company.
The real life in the Coal Camps
They lived in the coal camp; therefore, they had to pay the coal company rent.
They bought their groceries from the coal owners at the company Store. They were paid in script; therefore, it was only good at the over priced company store.
Men worked all day in the mines, while the women worked hard to keep the home, family, and possible animals taken care of.
The Miners had to purchase their own tools, shoes, gloves and clothing
Life in the Coal Camp
Where did Coal Camps Exist? These communities were created by coal companies so that workers could live near the mines. The coal companies built and owned everything, including schools, churches, stores, theaters, and residential structures. Several were found around the state. The most familiar camps were located in Logan County.
Cribbing-Miners were also denied their proper pay through this system.
Workers were paid based on tons of coal mined. Each car brought from the mines supposedly held a specific amount of coal, such as 2,000 pounds.
cars were altered to hold more coal than the specified amount, so miners would be paid for 2,000 pounds when they actually had brought in 2,500
Miners were often cheated by the weigh men. They were not paid for rock or slate.
1890-1912- West Virginia had a higher mine death rate than any other state.
Worst coal accident in WV-On December 6, 1907, an explosion at a mine owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in Monongah, Marion County, killed 361.
In response to poor conditions and low wages in the late 1800s, workers in most industries developed unions
The Solution Attempts to form a union failed many times in West Virginia!
1912- the union had lost control of much of the Kanawha- New River Coalfield. That year, UMWA miners on Paint Creek in Kanawha County demanded wages equal to those of other area mines.
The operators rejected the wage increase and miners walked off the job on April 18, beginning one of the most violent strikes in the nation's history.
Strike-to stop work in order to force an employer to comply with demands
Terms to know
Union-an association of workers banded together in the interests of its members
UMWA-United Mine Workers Association
County Coal Operators Association in 1903-the first such organization in the state.
It hired private detectives from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency in Bluefield as mine guards to harass union organizers.
This was the Beginning of the great Coal War in West Virginia.
Those that participated in the strike were evicted from their homes
Bull Moose Special- Both sides committed violent acts, the most notorious of which occurred on the night of February 7, 1913.
An armored train, nicknamed the "led by coal operator Quin Morton and Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill, rolled through a miners' tent colony at Holly Grove on Paint Creek. Mine guards opened fire from the train, killing striker Cesco Estep.
In retaliation, miners attacked a mine guard encampment at Mucklow, present Gallagher. In a battle which lasted several hours, at least sixteen people died, mostly mine guards.
Mary Harris Jones- was known as the "white-haired 'Mother' Jones" of the labor movement. Jones is best known for her struggles to win decent living and working conditions for the United Mine Workers.
On September 21, 1912, Jones led a march with coal miners' children.
February 12 she was arrested while protesting the conditions in the strike area. She was arrested and convicted in a military court of conspiring to commit murder, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
She was at least 68 years old and suffered from pneumonia. However, newly elected Governor Henry D. Hatfield pardoned her.
Henry D. Hatfield was sworn in as governor.
Hatfield, a physician, personally examined Jones, but kept her under house arrest for over two months.
On April 14, Hatfield issued a series of terms for settlement of the strike, including:
a nine-hour work day (already in effect elsewhere in the state),
the right to shop in stores other than those owned by the company, the
right to elect union check weighmen,
elimination of discrimination against union miners.
The settlement failed to answer the two primary grievances: the right to organize and the removal of mine guards. After additional violence on Cabin Creek, that strike was settled toward the end of July. The only gain was the removal of Baldwin- Felts detectives as mine guards from both Paint and Cabin creeks.
The Matewan Massacre
Non-union miners in Mingo County went on strike in the spring of 1920 and called for assistance from the District 17 office in Charleston.
On May 6, Fred Mooney and Bill Blizzard, one of the leaders of the 1912-13 strike, spoke to around 3,000 miners at Matewan. About half that number joined the UMWA.
On May 19, twelve Baldwin-Felts detectives arrived in Matewan. Families of miners who had joined the union were evicted from their company-owned houses. The town's chief of police, Sid Hatfield, encouraged Matewan residents to arm themselves.
As a result of the Matewan Massacre, Hatfield had become a hero to many of the miners. On August 7, a crowd varyingly estimated from 700 to 5,000 gathered on the capitol grounds in Charleston to protest the killing.
They Began to call for a March on Logan
On August 24- the march began as approximately 5,000 men crossed Lens Creek Mountain. The miners wore red bandanas, which earned them the nickname, "red necks.". That afternoon, Keeney met a majority of the miners at a ballfield in Madison and instructed them to turn back. As a result, some of the miners ended their march. However, two factors led many to continue. First, special trains promised by Keeney to transport the miners back to Kanawha County were late in arriving. Second, the state police raided a group of miners at Sharples on the night of the 27th, killing two. In response, many miners began marching toward Sharples, just across the Logan County line.
President Harding finally sent federal troops from Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
Those who surrendered were placed on trains and sent home.
Those perceived as leaders were to be held accountable for the actions of all the miners. Special grand juries handed down 1,217 indictments, including 325 for murder and 24 for treason against the state.
Blair Mountain stands as a powerful symbol for workers to this day. The miners who participated vowed never to discuss the details of the march to protect themselves from the authorities. For many years, the story of the march was communicated by word of mouth as an inspiration to union activists. It serves as a vivid reminder of the deadly violence so often associated with labor-management disputes. The mine wars also demonstrate the inability of the state and federal governments to defuse the situations short of armed intervention.