Harlan Fuel Co. Download PDF. But what of the people of Harlan County? 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. Troops had to be called into the county three times to maintain order. Why couldn't Eastover live with the same national UMW contract that so many other companies have accepted? Betty Eldridge is a mildmannered, well-dressed woman of about forty. It seems that unfriendly local law enforcement officials kept a constant surveillance on Dreiser, hoping to catch him in something that would justify a criminal charge against him. A historical marker says we are near the Little Shepherd Trail, the setting for the novel Shepherd of the Hills. I was born in Florida and grew up in Burdine, Kentucky. She's been picketing with the other women. 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. 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. Ky., told the Senate Civil Liberties Committee as it resumed its investigation of alleged terrorism in connection with Harlan County Coal Operators' efforts to resist union organization drives. 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.". Miners also wanted the right to organize and have a union. The distance a miner had to walk and how time was looked at was in 15-minute increments. The three houses with baths rent for $24 a month, plus $14 a month for electricity. But will Norman Yarborough ever agree to recognize the UMW? 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. 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. What did the foremen say on those occasions? 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. At Washington's National Airport, I board Piedmont Airline's fat little silver jet on a Sunday afternoon in early March. McDonald's. There were shots exchanged and all three deputies and one striker were killed. After nearly 40 years of working in coalmines, David . Sheriff Blair was voted out of his office in 1933 and died just a year later. Unemployment in 2017 was 9.4 percent, far above the national average. And lastly, the Harlan Fox Mining Co - presumably derived from the Harlan Fox Coal Co - was in operation from 1925-1932. There was no functioning safety committee Medical and retirement benefits were minimal and unreliable. Before the first meeting of the Citizens Inquiry, we sit around and talk with the Inquiry chairman, Daniel Pollitt, a professor of law at the University of North Carolina. Nobody knows how long the UMW can keep paying strike benefits. Working barns of gray-black weathered wood. The coal miners, lean and tough from Kentucky mountain life, knew how to fight back. Carl Horn of Duke Power and Arnold Miller of the UMW had talked, and negotiations had been resumed. (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.) Her daughter, Bessie Cornett, an attractive young brunette, says, "I'm not in jail today because you people are here." October 31, 2016. Lois Scott says that the women organized the Brookside Women's Club and got involved in the strike "because we knew that if the women didn't come in there would be violence." She talks about the women being armed with sticks, mace . A young woman from the Associated Press asks me, aren't we getting only one side of the story? Segment Synopsis: Lois Scott continues her conversation from her previous interview. At first, there were little battles with gunshots being exchanged between the strikers and the private guards, and the local law enforcement agents. The Price of Coal, Part II. The women say they then organized a "sunrise worship service" to begin at 4:30 on the morning of October 23, on the railroad tracks across the highway from the picket line. The company will probably demand a new election. Toilet paper clings to the bushes and tree limbs five or six feet up from the rushing stream. As part of his New Deal, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented and had passed the National Industrial Act. At these locations, the mine wages began to be comparable to other jobs around the nation. "We run because we wanted to testify, and if we hadn't run, he woulda had us in jail." Each contract varied from mine to mine. 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. (The union has told us that they are quite willing to limit the contract to the Brookside mine.) There are very few vacant houses in the county. Tuesday morning: Norman Yarborough has agreed to meet some of our group. Among coal miners, Harlan County, Kentucky, is known as "Bloody Harlan." Battle of Evartshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts, National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/new-deal/national-industrial-recovery-act-of-1933/, Battle of Evartshttps://pipiwiki.com/wiki/Battle_of_Evarts, Battle of Evartshttps://wiki2.org/en/Battle_of_Evarts, Harlan County Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County_War, A Brief History of Harlan County, USAhttps://labornotes.org/blogs/2019/08/brief-history-harlan-county-usa, Harlan County Warhttps://everipedia.org/Harlan_County_War, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/background-coal-strike, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/local-elite, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/new-york-writers, https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/coal-strike/national-miners-union-and-other-radical-groups, The Wagner Act of 1935 (National Labor Relations Act)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, BOMB IN AUTO KILLS KENTUCKY OFFICIAL; Harlan County Attorney Predicted Assassination for Backing Troops in Election.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, Elmon Clay Middleton https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70804679/elmon-clay-middleton, KENTUCKY HOLDS FOUR IN AUTO BOMB KILLING; Harlan Prosecutors Death Is Laid to His Fight Against Slot Machines.https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/06/archives/kentucky-holds-four-in-auto-bomb-killing-harlan-prosecutors-death.html, Blackjewel Bankruptcy Leaves Damaged Lands and Miners Compensation in Limbo, https://ohiovalleyresource.org/2021/03/22/blackjewel-bankruptcy-finalized/, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?fbclid=IwAR21nYphw4Dul-_EwuAmSWgzsvPLNwsMM0FtV75j0y-mGUHq-lCZjJxZot8, For more about us, you can visit our Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/kytnliving, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0oV5gFzIS2JdMJ3HvTOgA, When we forget our past and who we are as a people, then we become who they say we are. The slab of slate, more than 51 feet long, and 17 feet wide and weighing tons, was dodged by two men. On top of that, we learn later, the union is spending $108,000 a year for medical and hospital coverage for the striking miners and their families. It does not store any personal data. There is a hard edge in her voice, and her blue-gray eyes are flashing. Captain James Cromer of the state police later tells news reporters, "The women are a problem. I look at the government statistics once more. It was Miller who defeated W. A. Here at Kentucky Tennessee Living we fully support the coal miners and their families. 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 . The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Blair made it clear that he was on the side of the mine operators and the people of the county lost any illusion that the law enforcement would be impartial in this strike. The Brookside mine is capable of producing only about a half-million tons of the 15 million tons of coal Duke uses each year. Perched atop Inspiration Mountain is the modern Mount Aire Motel. Big Boy. Done Citation. 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. It read: RE-ELECT GAW, JAILER. In response, the coal owners and operators decided to sell their fuel at below cost to increase the national dependency on coal. 9:03 PM. He hopes the other side will do the same. 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. There are very few vacant houses in Harlan County and virtually no available land to build on. He says that they do not need the UMW to look after them; he will do that. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. They fed strikers' children as well as the employed, blacks as well as whites. Bobby's wife, Becky, who died in 2013, was a lifelong advocate for the people of Harlan County. Done. (Brookside) were the only two mines of the Harlan County owner/operators association who rejected a 10% pay increase in 1933. There were only three cars in the motorcade each of which contained a sheriffs deputy. They have probably helped keep their own men from exploding too. A Brief History of Harlan County, USA. But Barbara Bode has arranged for eleven of them to come up onto the stage at the same time, and they seem to take strength from their numbers. "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. They are merely a service organization, Yarborough says. Kentucky communities discussed include Artemus, Burdine, Jenkins, Jellico, Van Lear, and Wheelwright; and Kentucky counties include Bell, Clay, Floyd, Harlan . "Yeah," a coal miner says, "but the land's so poor, you can't hardly raise an umbrella on it.". Leroy Helton says miners often have to splice electrical cable, even though they're not qualified to do so. The mining company had ordered a motorcade to deliver food and supplies to the strikebreakers known as Scabs. Mr. Blanton explained the reasoning behind coal camps. But mostly the scenery is depressingly bleak. "They sent me to 'Waterhole No. On one excuse or another, such as not having personnel readily available to accompany the inspector into the mine, the company can delay the inspection. Others claim that his death was caused by an election concerning slot machines into the county. The company also agreed to abide by any agreement reached between the . Most of the land is owned by the mining companies. We gather back in Evarts and announce that our report will be ready in two or three weeks. In the year of "the energy crisis," Coal is King again at $30 a ton. Pic from Harlan County USA of a Coal Camp. I've talked to Norman Yarborough, and you ain't bringing no union down here. 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. Five men and their titles are listed and all are doing all they can.. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the company could leave damages to the environment, abandon assets, and not pay the coal miners owed wages. Harlan County Coal Operators' Association. Featuring a haunting soundtrack-with legendary country . Why wasn't the fuse replaced at once? The Harlan Daily Enterprise story of September 16, 1943 is serious and straightforward: 17 miners are trapped a mile underground and help is on the way.. Much of the story is about help. [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%. The accident was the second worst mine fatality in the history of Harlan County coal mining, the worst being Harlan Fuel Company . Strike benefits are $100 weekly for a family, $90 for a couple, and $80 for a single man. 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. 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. He tells me that the miners plan to picket on Wall Street, hoping to give Duke problems with its stock. HARLAN COUNTY COAL OPERATORS ASSOCIATION. Funeral Wednesday March 1 at 11 a.m. at Grays Knob Bible Church. It is thought that Middleton was assassinated for backing troops who were present in the County to protect the miners. No wonder R C Cola has so many signs everywhere. 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. Louis Stacy that he has several times been running a defective roofbolting machine when word came that inspector was on his way. It is also women's day before the Citizens In-quiry. It comes to a bill of about $20,000 a week for the national union. He decided to make Harlan County a test case in the UMW's new, more aggressive organizing efforts. "Not at all," Yarborough says. The aftermath of this battle led to wider strikes in the Harlan County area. "This whole country is like a layer cake," Si Kahn says, "a layer cake of shale, coal, and sandstone. ("Tony") Boyle for the national presidency of the UMW in 1972 in an election closely supervised by the federal government. We stop for fish and chips at a chain-operated Long John Silver's Sea Food Shoppe, as out of place in the Cumberlands as a clam in a spruce tree. 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 the miners and their families. "We've took about all we can take," he says. This active organization is made up of those who represent the leader in the mining industry. The Act was an attempt to restructure the industrial sector of the economy and to alleviate unemployment with a public works program. "They didn't say nothin'; all they want's coal.' For a time after the hearing, he says, it appeared that Duke had softened. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. 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. Soon after the "Battle of Evarts," novelist Theodore Dreiser led a citizens' group to Harlan County to find and publicize the bloody facts. 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. The latest unrest in Harlan County came when in July of 2019, Black jewel LLC filed for bankruptcy and liquidation. knee-deep in water, he has experienced many electrical shocks. They are neatly and attractively dressed. 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." "Boss walks up and says, 'We've got to make this mine look good now, boys; the inspector's comin','" Jerry Johnson says. The most memorable of those are 1964, 1966, 1969 (The West Virginia Black Lung strike that the miners won) 1971, and the 1974 Strikes. those in the Harlan County Coal Operators . An open shop is where union membership is allowed but not mandated to work at that location. 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. The roof is approximately forty-eight inches high in the mine. Only to be escorted to the county line and told not to return. The trees are barely beginning to bud in the early March warmth. 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 . Enforcing the operators' political will, both within and outside the law, was the Harlan County Coal Operators Association. No. Source Citation [ }] Descriptive Note Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest. Conflict broke out again the 1970s in what was known as the Brookside strike. Breaks in the cable, they say, are often just wrapped with mask-ing tape and exposed again to the water. 1 mine in Evarts, in Harlan County, Kentucky. Our delegation arrives on time at the Eastover office in Brookside. Miner Curtis Cress, 34, says towns that . Interview Summary. Forty percent of the county's dwellings lack some or all of plumbing, water, or toilet facilities. Outlining the legal framework for labor unions and management relations to improve the working conditions for workers. Horn's letter questions the fair-mindedness of the inquiry members. "In Harlan County, U.S.A., sound anchors, explains, and makes 'authentic' visual imagery compromised by the long history of documentary work in Appalachia.". Some of the miners also claim that the state police have tried to intimidate them. I have two children and four grandchildren from a previous marriage. James Willard Pope officiating. 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. And we're burning up people to make electricity. ", What about federal inspection? Strikebreakers were often beaten. 25 (N.L.R.B. 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. Seen 'em carried out on a stretcher," she says. "The danger's just the same," they say. During the big coal boom in the early 1900s, Harlan County was amongst the largest contributors. Hennen attributes this abandonment to the increasingly conservative John L. Lewis, the longtime and powerful president of the UMWA, who feared . He speaks of "my people" and "my men." Whitfield's family was from Alabama where his father had been in the coal business. corporateBody associatedWith : Heyl & Patterson, Inc . The most shocking moment in Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) looks at first like an abstract painting. those in the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association, were run as open shops from October 27, 1933 - March 31, 1935. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. When fuses blow, they are not immediately replaced; the cable is spliced or "hot-wired" around the fuse. Cite. Is the safety provision in the UMW contract the sticking point for Eastover? Why is garbage left on the roadway? On February 16, 1931, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association reduced wages for miners in that part of eastern Kentucky by 10 percent. They were convicted on charges of conspiracy to murder. Coal employment in Harlan county dropped 53.7% in the second quarter of this year compared with last year, driven by Blackjewel's bankruptcy. These interviews with major coal operators document their personal histories and the history of the coal industry in eastern Kentucky during the twentieth century. 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. What a marvelous view! "We could lay down, fight the police, or let them scabs go to work. There had been several clashes with the "scabs," the mine guards, and the state police, Kahn says. They file with us copies of specific federal safety violation reports, and they say that nothing was ever done to correct these violations. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. At Brookside, this would amount to $400,000 a year. 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. 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. He says that negotiations were broken off on November 28, 1973, because of the miners' insistence on the full terms of the standard UMW contract. 1931, only $13.5 million. Lifelong resident of Harlan. [ 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%. "I cain't get a job nowhere in this county. The AFSC fed almost 1500 children in Harlan by the end of the 1931-2 schoolyear, as well as about a hundred nursing and expectant mothers. California labor activist Caroline Decker also raised money for the relief of the striking miner efforts. Dixon and union leaders worry that the union's disappearance in Kentucky has opened the door for coal operators to . 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. . All during the day they worked in shifts, trying to penetrate to the point where the explosion occurred. 8 N.L.R.B. No, Yarborough says; it just serves as a central clearing house, so that job applicants won't have to go around and apply at each of the mines separately. When Barbara finishes her answer, Wirtz raises a clenched fist and says, "Right on!" 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. Other times, he says, "Roof was workin', rock was a-hangin', and it sounded like thunder. 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. Miners laid in an ambush on the day of May 5, 1931, near the Evarts railroad crossing. 2012: $1,552,717. Each of us makes a statement. Si says Harlan is a dry countyno legal liquor and no beer. Duke went into the coal business directly in 1970 when it organized Eastover Mining Company as a wholly owned subsidiary and, through it, bought several mines in eastern Kentucky, including the one at Brookside. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. I have an Associates Degree from Hazard Community College and Technical School. The miners say that, somehow, management always knows when the government inspectors are coming. In the bloody 1930s coal wars, miners known to be union members were fired and evicted from company-owned homes. had them make me go in and pin it because it wasn't done right the first time. The remaining workforce then went on strike as a sign of solidarity with those that were fired from their jobs. There were ten lodges that were chartered for the National Miners Union. Harlan County. . There is a suit still in litigation. A thousand feet below me lies a small, green valley, partly shrouded by the morning mist. Apparently, this is one of Eastover's major objections. Yarborough replies. I've got five living children and four dead. In the throes of the Great Depression, Harlan County coal owners and operators, in an effort to expand national dependency on their fuel, chose to sell below cost. He sentenced nine men and seven women to six months in jail and fined them $500 each. We look back on the film, which screens this Sunday, February . In "Bloody Harlan" in the 1930s, miners and union organizers faced bayonets and many died fighting the coal bosses, helping to fuel a national wave of organizing. Duke Power Company appears to be the key to breaking the deadlock in negotiations. As in Germany, the AFSC used need alone to determine who got fed. Pierce has brought the actual Courier-Journal clippings about the Dreiser inquiry and shares them with us. Some seventy-five state policemen were on hand as the crowd gathered. The men's life depended on my job, but I knowed if I protested I'd a got fired. Filmed during the coal strike of 1974-1975, this documentary does much to capture the tension brought on by the injustice of the coal operators to the coal miners in Harlan County, Kentucky. Project Summary. Free shipping for many products! In Harlan County, Kentucky, are some of our country's richest natural resourcesand some of its poorest people. With the opening left by the United Mine Workers union the openly Communist (NMU) National Miners Union tried to help the miners to organize. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The median family income is $4600 a year. In Harlan County on July 7, 1935, during a celebration of the Wagner Act, a group of disgruntled deputies severely beat up several miners and dispersed the crowd. A third generation coal operator, he served as President of the Harlan County Coal Operators and the Harlan Mining Institute, as Vice President of the Kentucky Coal Association and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Associated Industries of Kentucky. Three of our Inquiry members plan to talk with the president of Duke Power Company. They say no action has been taken on this report. Others say they intend to speak and write about what they have heard. As the motorcade approached a single shot rang out in the air. the meeting room. 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%. Since the county began mining, over one billion tons of coal have There was no standard contract for the miners. Some of the women cut switches and joined the picketers. 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 miners and the coal owners were still having disputes. The SLU was largely seen as serving the interests of the mine owners rather than the workers. No concessions or deals were made between the two factions and the membership of the United Mine Workers union plummeted. 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. There is one ostentatious feature about him, though: a large, multi-diamond ring on the third finger of his left hand. Where will the families go? A shoulder blade and five of his ribs were broken. Miners die, and last year was the deadliest in American coal mines in more than a decade. 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. Eight miners were sentenced to life in prison for the actions that were taken on May 5, 1931. It is clear that these women have been a main factor in keeping the mine shut down. It reports that "Piedmont" is an adjective derived.from Italian words that literally mean "formed at the foot of the mountains." "Here at Brookside, if you called someone from SLU, he might come in a week, he might come in two weeks, but when he did come, he'd go into Eastover's office and talk for an hour," Bill Doan says. Isolated trailer houses. Typical of counties with low income, counties where the mine companies own everything and pay low taxes, our UMW driver says. Only three of the families in the camp have indoor toilets. Our drive takes us upstream along the yellow-brown Clear Fork River. Harlan County sits in the sweet spot of coal mining in southeastern Kentucky. Midway in the trial, Judge Hogg dismissed the jury and directed a verdict of guilty. Harlan County Coal Miners Deaths 1940-1949 1940 1940 Hayes, Petry - Harlan Central Coal Company Totz No. The Red Cross eventually became involved in the county along with several local charities. "They don't want miners havin' any say in safety." In America, the word describes a region, including Harlan County, Kentucky, between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coast. During the rest of the afternoon, the miners talk about what has happened on the picket line and in the local court.