US History

The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

Labor History

This collection uses primary sources to explore the history of labor strikes in West Virginia mining.

A piece of cannel coal from the Cedar Grove seam in Logan County, West Virginia.

A 1908 West Virginia map showing coal and natural gas deposits; coal naturally occurs in fifty-three of the state’s fifty-five counties. 

Excerpts from a 1921 book that lists all the coal mines in West Virginia; these excerpts list mines in the southern West Virginia coalfields.

Excerpts from a 1923 pamphlet, “Life in a West Virginia Coal Field,” with a preface by the governor of West Virginia.

A photograph taken in Gary (McDowell County), West Virginia, showing a coal mine tipple used to load coal onto train cars. 

A 1938 photograph showing a coal-stained house in Scotts Run (Monongalia County), West Virginia.

An 1915 photograph of a “colored” school and its students in the southern West Virginia coalfields (Fayette County). 

A 1915 photograph of company-owned cabins in a southern West Virginia coal town. 

Excerpts from the text of the 1912 United Mine Workers of America Constitution.

A signed photograph of United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis.

Photographs of the coal miners arrested during the Paint Creek strike of 1912-13.

Excerpts from a federal investigative report on conditions during and after the Paint Creek Coal Strike in 1912-13.

Excerpts from a 1921 book, *Civil War in West Virginia*, written at the end of the West Virginia mine wars by Lane Winthrop.

Excerpts from a program by Minnesota Public Radio about how unions are portrayed in movies. 

Excerpts from a 1924 government report on labor relations at a coal field in Fairmont, Marion County, West Virginia.

Questions

1. What descriptors might one use to define the physical characteristics of a [piece of coal](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/972)? 
2. Using the [map](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/973) and the [book listing coal mines in West Virginia](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/974), explain where most West Virginia coal mines are located. What are the exact and relative geographic location of these sites according to the map? How would one explain the topography of this region? What is the role of West Virginia’s geography in the establishment of the coal camps?
3. Consider the [photograph of a tipple](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/976), the [photograph of a coal-stained house](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/977), the [photograph of a school](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/978), and the [photograph of company-owned cabins](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/979). What emotions do these images evoke at first? After taking a second look, how would you describe West Virginia coal camps to someone from outside West Virginia? Do you believe these images match the descriptions in the [pamphlet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/975) called “Life in a West Virginia Coal Field”?
4. According to its [constitution](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/980), what are the purposes of the UMWA and what is its protocol for union-organized strikes? Do you see any flaws in the union’s outlined plans? Please identify and explain. 
5. According to the [investigative report](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/983), what were the conditions in Paint Creek before and during the strike? Were rights of the miners violated in any way?
6. Using [*Civil War in West Virginia*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/984) and the [public radio program](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/985), please outline the issues at stake for the West Virginia miners during the West Virginia mine wars? Why did the issue of unionization generate such violence? Do you believe the struggle of the southern West Virginia coalfields could have been solved using tactics other than violence?
7. After analyzing the [government report on labor relations](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/986), explain how the issues in northern West Virginia coalfields compare/contrast to the conditions in southern West Virginia coalfields? 

Activity

1. Ask students to use the photographs and documents in this set to create a newspaper advertisement for one of three jobs: a non-unionized coal-miner in the southern West Virginia coalfields, a new agent for the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, and a United Mine Workers of America organizer for District Seventeen. Students will need to design a catchy image for the top of the advertisement as well as list the benefits, pay, and expectations of their selected job. 
2. Ask students to use the information in this set to analyze film and books exploring the history of West Virginia mining and labor. 
  * Three excellent movies on the topic are *Matewan* (1987) written and directed by John Sayles, the PBS American Experience film *The Mine Wars*, and the 1999 film *October Sky*, based on the childhood experiences of NASA scientist Homer Hickam. 
  * Hickam’s memoirs, *The Coalwood Way*, *October Sky*, and *Sky of Stone* also explore life in Coalwood (McDowell County), a 1950s West Virginia coal town. 
  * Denise Giardina has published two excellent historical novels dealing with the history of West Virginia mining: *Storming Heaven* and *The Unquiet Earth*. The books follow a West Virginia coal-mining family and its descendants from the early days of the industry through the West Virginia mine wars and into the problems facing coalfields in the mid-twentieth century. 
3. Mining history is fraught with mining disasters. For example, the Monongah Disaster (Marion County), which occurred on the morning of December 8, 1907, still remains the worst industrial disaster in American History. Three hundred sixty-two or more miners were killed in a methane explosion so powerful that most of the men died instantly; the explosion destroyed the ventilation system and railcars, and caused the roof of the mine to collapse, making rescue and recovery impossible. Disasters such as the 1968 Farmington (Marion County) explosion, the 2006 Sago Mine disaster (Upshur County), and the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster (Raleigh County) continue to plague the industry. Ask students to research West Virginia mining disasters and the legislation written after them. Students could also compare/contrast the risks faced by miners to those faced by firefighters, construction workers, and oil and gas workers, and present their research in a short paper.
4. Students may also use the information in this set as a springboard for research into different unionized industries such as auto workers, steelworkers, or teamsters. Ask students to create a timeline of the chronology of the West Virginia labor movement and the American labor movement in general, including key pieces of labor legislation. 

Teaching Guide: Exploring Coal Mining and Labor in West Virginia

Resources

1. [History of West Virginia Mineral Industries-Coal](http://www.wvgs.wvnet.edu/www/geology/geoldvco.htm), WVGES. 
2. [History of the West Virginia Mine Wars](http://www.wvculture.org/history/minewars.html), WV Archives. 
3. [The Mine Wars](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/minewars-introduction/), American Experience, PBS.


Overview

Bituminous coal mining spread throughout the newly formed state of West Virginia in the years following the Civil War. Coal was used to heat homes, generate cheap electricity, and produce steel; it was therefore important for a reunited country experiencing a second industrial revolution. Most West Virginia mines were owned by out-of-state interests who took little interest in the mines’ day-to-day work. Before unionization, each miner worked in a specified territory and was paid per ton of coal extracted. Miners got their wages in scrip, a company-created currency accepted in the company store and all but worthless outside the camp. Forced to pay for rent, clothes, food, medical and burial expenses, and even their mining equipment out of meager wages, miners were often trapped in a system that had them “owing their souls to the company store.” This cycle of debt, paired with dangerous working conditions, continuous threats of layoffs due to the market price of coal, and a lack of sanitary housing or adequate schools, left miners angry and ready for change. 

Mary Harris Jones, called Mother Jones, was one of the labor leaders who advocated for such change. In a 1912 speech during the Paint Creek mining strike, Jones said: “This day marks the forward march of the workers in the state of West Virginia.” Jones described working conditions in the mines and living conditions in the camps as twentieth-century slavery. Many divisive and bloody actions took place in the southern West Virginia coalfields in response to the call for unionization, including the Paint Creek Massacre, the Matewan Massacre, and the Battle of Blair Mountain. These events were pivotal for the prospect of unionized labor in America, but were little more than side notes in American history until the 1987 movie *Matewan* and the 1987 book *Storming Heaven*. This set will help students understand the labor movement among coal miners and serve as a springboard for broader exploration of unionized employment in the United States. 

English

When Miners Strike: West Virginia Coal Mining and Labor History

when-miners-strike-west-virginia-coal-mining-labor-history_11_bb6b934fcd4c2b72b87263d30f832847.jpg

“Citizens that have been arrested,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/bb6b934fcd4c2b72b87263d30f832847.

Photographs of the coal miners arrested during the Paint Creek strike of 1912-13.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 11 of 15 in the Primary Source Set When Miners Strike: West Virginia Coal Mining and Labor History