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The Battle of Blair Mountain: The Legacy of North America’s Largest Labor Uprising

By Mirko Herzog

The last two years have taken a toll on many people. The pandemic and subsequent shortages in labor and products have shown how fragile the world’s economy can be. With that fragility come instances of a struggle as old as systems of labor organization and division: strikes. Depending on whose perspective you share, the workers’ demands are ‘of course’ either justified or outrageous. But there lies the issue: many workers’ demands have once been out of the question. A lot of what we consider to be self-evident today had to be fought for; sometimes with little to no success.

Miners prepare to surrender their weapons to federal soldiers after the Battle of Blair Mountain.

Thus, I want to mention that 2021 also marks the 100th anniversary of the biggest labor uprising in the history of the United States. A reminder that workers’ rights are not automatically a given, but also a lesson in how remembrance and preservation are perhaps just as important as uncovering and recording history itself. As for the Battle of Blair Mountain itself, it was part of the Coal Wars, a series of strikes and insurrections by coal miners against unjust labor and living conditions, as well as the companies’ persistent anti-union activities against the United Mine Workers of America.1 This specific uprising took place between August 25 and September 2, 1921, after Sid Hatfield, outspoken union-supporter and police chief of Matewan – a small mining town in West Virginia – had been killed by companies’ thugs.2 After days of fighting and dozens of dead on both sides, the US Army intervened, some arrests were made, but ultimately only a few workers were charged and no immediate progress was made.3 If anything, union membership numbers plummeted.

A political cartoon shows a soldier training his rifle on a striking miner. Behind the soldier, supporting him, stand a mine owner and President Harding. (The Liberator, 31 October 1921)

But if little came out of its immediate aftermath, why would I specifically mention Blair Mountain? This is where Kenny King comes in. King, who worked in the mining industry as a sample analyst, is not only the descendent of one of the fighters at Blair Mountain, but also a local with an evident interest in preserving history. Since 1991, he has made an effort to first uncover and then fight for the preservation of the battlefield as a cultural heritage site of sorts.4 As fate would have it, several coal companies not only hold mountaintop removal mining permits, but also challenged the authorities’ decision of protecting a large partition of the site in 2009, as it was added under the National Register of Historical Places. A legal back-and-forth ensued between the companies and an increasing number of clubs, locals, agencies and NGOs. The latter fighting many decisions made in the companies’ favor. As of now, pending cases on a federal level and the security perimeter around the National Guard’s training grounds nearby protect the mountain from being blasted into oblivion.5 Which is precisely the point. By preserving the site, not only can the memory of the struggle be kept alive, but also be remembered as more than unsuccessful. Measuring an effort only in terms of outcome belittles the struggles of people and lessons one can learn from the past. If anything, the companies’ might even be seen as ‘of course’ having an interest in erasing that history. Which shows that even remembrance – just as workers’ rights – is not automatically a given, but something that has to be fought for.

  1. For an extensive study of the entire conflict and its prelude, see: Shogan, Robert, The Battle of Blair Mountain: The Story of America’s Largest Labor Uprising, Boulder CO, 2004. Especially pp. 153-209 for the battle itself.
  2. Cf. Harris, West, “What if We Really Won the Battle of Blair Mountain?” 2011. In: Appalachian Heritage, Vol. 39 (2011) No. 3, p. 87.
  3. Cf. Soodalter, Ron. “The Battle over Blair Mountain: Site of Famous Labor Fight Remains Under Siege.” In: Progressive, Vol. 82 (2018) No. 1, p. 52-53.
  4. Ibid. pp. 53-54.
  5. Ibid. pp. 55-56.

Works Cited

Harris, Wess. “What if We Really Won the Battle of Blair Mountain?” Appalachian Heritage, Vol. 39 (2011) No. 3, pp. 87-91.
Schreiber, Noam. “President Biden assails Kellogg’s plan to replace striking workers.” Taken from: The New York Times Online. Accessed Dec. 13, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/business/economy/kellogg-strike-biden.html
Shogan, Robert. 2004. The Battle of Blair Mountain: The Story of America’s Largest Labor Uprising. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Soodalter, Ron. “The Battle over Blair Mountain: Site of Famous Labor Fight Remains Under Siege.” Progressive, Vol. 82 (2018) No. 1, pp. 52-56.

Images

Miners with federal soldiers prepare to surrender their weapons after the Battle of Blair Mountain. 31 December, 1921. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

“West Virginia: same old line up,” The Liberator, 31 October 1921. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

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