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Battle Of Blair Mountain
The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War. The conflict occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, as part of the Coal Wars, a series of early-20th-century labor disputes in Appalachia. Up to 100 people were killed, and many more arrested. For five days from late August to early September 1921, some 10,000 armed coal miners confronted 3,000 lawmen and strikebreakers (called the Logan Defenders) who were backed by coal mine operators during the miners' attempt to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields when tensions rose between workers and mine management. The battle ended after approximately one million rounds were fired, and the United States Army, represented by the West Virginia Army National Guard led by McDowell County native William Eubanks, intervened by presidential order. Background Since the founding of the United Mine Workers union in 1890, coal mines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coal Wars
The Coal Wars were a series of armed labor conflicts in the United States, roughly between 1890 and 1930. Although they occurred mainly in the East, particularly in Appalachia, there was a significant amount of violence in Colorado after the turn of the century. History The Coal Wars were the result of economic exploitation of workers during a period of social transformation in the coalfields. Beginning in 1870–1880, coal operators had established the company town system. Coal operators paid private detectives as well as public law enforcement agents to ensure that union organizers were kept out of the region. In order to accomplish this objective, agents of the coal operators used intimidation, harassment, espionage and even murder. Throughout the early 20th century, coal miners attempted to overthrow this system and engaged in a series of strikes, including the Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike of 1912, and the Battle of Evarts, which coal operators attempted to stop through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency
The Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency was a private detective agency in the United States from the early 1890s to 1937. Members of the agency were central actors in the events that led to the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 and violent repression of labor union members as part of the Coal Wars in such places as the Pocahontas Coalfield region of West Virginia, the Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike of 1912 in West Virginia, 1913–1914 Colorado Coalfield War (including the Ludlow Massacre in 1914), and the Battle of Matewan in 1920. The agency was founded in the early 1890s by William Gibbony Baldwin as the Baldwin Detective Agency. Formation Baldwin, the senior member of the firm, was a native of Tazewell County, Virginia. An avid reader of detective novels in his youth, Baldwin was a small storekeeper in his early days. He then studied dentistry but left that profession to become a detective. He began his career in 1884 with the Eureka Detective Agency in Charleston, West V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Keeney
Charles Francis "Frank" Keeney Jr. (March 15, 1882 – May 22, 1970) was a union organizer during the West Virginia Coal Wars. He served as a rank-and-file leader during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912–13 and became president of United Mine Workers District 17 from his election in 1916 until 1924. He played a leadership role during the strike of 1920–21 leading up to the Battle of Blair Mountain The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War. The conflict occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, as part of the Coal Wars, a series of early- .... References {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeney, Frank 1882 births 1970 deaths United Mine Workers people Trade unionists from West Virginia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She helped coordinate major strikes and co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World. After Jones's husband and four children all died of yellow fever in 1867 and her dress shop was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, she became an organizer for the Knights of Labor and the United Mine Workers union. In 1902, she was called "the most dangerous woman in America" for her success in organizing mine workers and their families against the mine owners. In 1903, to protest the lax enforcement of the child labor laws in the Pennsylvania mines and silk mills, she organized a children's march from Philadelphia to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt in New York. Early life Mary G. Harris was born on the north side of Cork, the daughter o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Mine Workers Coal Strike Of 1919
The United Mine Workers coal strike of 1919 saw coal miners strike for over a month, from November 1 to December 10, 1919, for better wages. Background 1919 in the United States saw the country undergoing the First Red Scare a period marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian Revolution and anarchist bombings. At its height in 1919–1920, concerns over the effects of radical political agitation in American society and the alleged spread of communism and anarchism in the American labor movement fueled a general sense of concern. Add to this was the ongoing steel strike of 1919, an attempt by the weakened Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (AA) to organize the United States steel industry in the wake of World War I. The strike had begun on September 22, 1919. Coal strike of 1919 The United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis announced a strike for November 1, 1919. They had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John L
John Lasarus Williams (29 October 1924 – 15 June 2004), known as John L, was a Welsh nationalist activist. Williams was born in Llangoed on Anglesey, but lived most of his life in nearby Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. In his youth, he was a keen footballer, and he also worked as a teacher. His activism started when he campaigned against the refusal of Brewer Spinks, an employer in Blaenau Ffestiniog, to permit his staff to speak Welsh. This inspired him to become a founder of Undeb y Gymraeg Fyw, and through this organisation was the main organiser of ''Sioe Gymraeg y Borth'' (the Welsh show for Menai Bridge using the colloquial form of its Welsh name).Colli John L Williams , '' BBC Cymru'', 15 June 2004 Williams also join ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Company Town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and recreation facilities. They are usually bigger than a model village ("model" in the sense of an ideal to be emulated). Some company towns have had high ideals, but many have been regarded as controlling and/or exploitative. Others developed more or less in unplanned fashion, such as Summit Hill, Pennsylvania, United States, one of the oldest, which began as a Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company mining camp and mine site nine miles (14.5 km) from the nearest outside road. Overview Traditional settings for company towns were where extractive industries – coal, metal mines, lumber – had established a monopoly franchise. Dam sites and war-industry camps founded other company towns. Since company stores often had a monopoly in company to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mingo County, West Virginia
Mingo County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,568. Its county seat and largest city is Williamson. Created in 1895, Mingo is West Virginia's newest county, named for the historic Iroquoian Mingo people. (WV County Etymology) History Mingo County is West Virginia's newest county, formed by an act of the state legislature in 1895 from parts of Logan County. The county was named for the Mingo Indians. At the time of its creation, Mingo County was divided into magisterial districts, which the United States Census Bureau classifies as a type of non-functional subdivision serving purely administrative purposes.United States Census Bureau, U.S. Decennial Census, Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010. After West Virginia's establishment in 1863, its counties were initially divided into civil townships, with the intent to encourage local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McDowell County, West Virginia
McDowell County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,111. Its county seat is Welch. McDowell County is the southernmost county in the state. It was created in 1858 by the Virginia General Assembly and named for Virginia Governor James McDowell. It became a part of West Virginia in 1863, when several Union-affiliated counties seceded from the state of Virginia during the American Civil War. McDowell County is located in the Cumberland Mountains, part of the Appalachia region. Due mostly to a decline in employment in the coal mining industry, McDowell County's population has decreased from almost 100,000 in 1950 to less than 20,000 in 2020. The people of McDowell County suffer high rates of drug abuse and poverty, and have a life expectancy well below the national average. History On February 20, 1858, McDowell County was formed from the northern portion of Tazewell County. In 1861, as the nation lurched toward civil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (such as holiday, health care, and retirement), improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers. Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called ''union dues''. The delegate staff of the trade union representation in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members in democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
