The Importance of the Mine Wars
Middle school students should learn about the mine wars because they are a very big part of our state history and yet it’s not taught in our schools. Not only are these events not taught in our schools but people are attempting to erase them from our history. Without the mine wars, life in WV would be vastly different than it is today.
The mine wars occurred between 1912-1913 and 1920-1921 in the coal fields in West Virginia. They involved the mining companies, miners, state government and private security companies. Before the mine wars occurred, people were abused by the coal companies. The miners and their families were forced to work very hard in unsafe mines for very little pay and paid in company money which they could only spend while living in company towns. Figure 1 shows miners posing in front of the mines around the time of the Mine Wars.
These times also saw members of the community including miners, doctors, lawyers, shop keepers and ministers come together against the coal companies because of the unfair pay and the dangers of working in the coal mines. The UMWA helped to organize many of the strikes against the coal companies. During the mine wars the miners went on strike and battles such as the Paint Creek Cabin Creek strike, the Battle of Blair Mountain and the Battle of Matewan occurred. Many historic figures inspired the workers such as Sid Hatfield, who was the police chief of Matewan, WV. Sid Hatfield fought back against the coal companies on behalf of the people including the mining companies’ evictions of people and widows from their homes. Sid Hatfield was killed by Baldwin Felts agents as a result of fighting for the miners and became a folk hero and a reason for more miners to rise up and fight for fairness and justice.
As a result of the strikes and the union organizing, things are much better for miners today than they were one hundred years ago. Important changes that happened include much better pay, healthcare and safer mining conditions. These changes not only affected coal mining, but would also have a positive impact on almost every job and improve life for the workers and almost everyone living in West Virginia. We have 8 hour workdays and reasonable breaks as a result of all of the sacrifices made during the Mine Wars.
The mine wars were actively erased from our state’s history. In the 1930’s, WV Governor Holt removed information about the mine wars from school text books. Significant places such as Mother Jones’ house, Blair Mountain battlefield and other historic locations have been under attack from the coal companies as these sites are reminders of events that made the coal companies look bad.
Today, many West Virginians may have ties to the mine wars that they don’t even know about. The people that do have knowledge about their ancestors who took part in the mine wars have been critical to preserving the history of the mine wars through family stories passed down from generation to generation. It is important for all of us to learn this part of our history because we can learn about our ancestors, their struggles and their triumphs.
The mine wars are barely taught in schools and some believe that the reason is that some officials in the West Virginia State Government and mining companies believe that it makes our state look bad. Therefore, they are attempting to erase it in our state history. The mine wars were critical in building our state as a large community fighting for justice and fairness. The mine wars are one of the most overlooked yet revolutionary parts of the state’s past. At the Morgantown Learning Academy (MLA), we are learning about the mine wars. We read about the people and events and we have talked about it in class. We’ve gone on a field trip to Matewan, WV where we met with UMWA organizers, visited the Mine Wars Museum and saw a reenactment of the Battle of Matewan. Figure 2 shows a picture of me with a Sid Hatfield re-enactor. I found the mine wars to be interesting and I was amazed that I’ve never heard of the mine wars outside of MLA. I never realized how bad the coal companies treated the miners. So in conclusion I think that it is vital to our state that schools should teach about the mine wars and their meaningful role in our state’s history so future generations can learn from our past and not make the same mistakes as our ancestors.
