The Mine Wars

Filmmaker Randall MacLowry's PBS-aired American Experience documentary revisits the decades-long efforts by West Virginia coal miners to organize a union while facing harsh and often violent opposition from the mine owners and their political allies. At the dawn of the 20th century, miners sought to establish safer workplaces for themselves and better standards of living for their families who resided in company-owned housing and were indebted to company-run stores for their goods. Coal companies that profited mightily from the hard labor of the miners were not eager to share their good fortune with workers, and a potential union was seen as a threat to their power. The situation percolated for years until the strike of 1912-13, in which militant miners ended up fighting private armed guards employed by the coal companies. A 1920 shootout at Matewan, WV, between guards and the union-organizing miners left 10 people dead, while the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain between armed miners and a combined force of law enforcement officers and guards was the greatest armed conflict on the U.S. mainland since the Civil War. Combining rare photographs with insightful historical analysis, The Mine Wars chronicles this extraordinary chapter in the growth of organized labor and the fight for social justice. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)