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LATEST BATTLE OF BLAIR MOUNTAIN SHOWCASES SIERRA CLUB’S GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING AND CAMPAIGN PLANNING MATRIX
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by Regina Hendrix | 2006

Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice and Environmental Public Education Campaign (EPEC) organizers initiated meetings with local citizens of Blair, WV, to empower them in their efforts to place this historic battle site on the National Register of Historic Places.

In July 1921, Matewan Sheriff Sid Hatfield was shot and killed on the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse. As captured in the movie Matewan, Hatfield was a fervent supporter of coal miners and their efforts to unionize. His murder galvanized miners’ simmering frustration into an armed protest to unionize West Virginia’s coal mines. The shooting war that followed in Logan County during August and September of 1921 became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain, noted by historians as the greatest domestic armed conflict in American labor history and indeed the only time federal troops were called out and bombs dropped on U.S. citizens.

Although the battle did not achieve the immediate goal to unionize the Logan coalfields, the United Mine Workers of America won a moral victory, as the public at large learned of the everyday injustices endured by working men and women in a socio-political environment dominated by private, coal company interests. Union efforts in the area were eventually vindicated with the 1933 passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which legalized the right of coal miners to join a union without the fear of reprisals from mine owners or operators. Widespread unionization followed in the West Virginia coalfields and in other industries across the United States. Unfortunately the historic site of the Battle of Blair Mountain remained largely unrecognized and unprotected despite a series of efforts (beginning in 1980) to have this site added to the National Register for Historic Places. For various reasons, none of these efforts were carried to a successful conclusion until recently.

A bit of background: During 2003 I met Kenny King, a resident of southern West Virginia’s Logan County area. Kenny’s ancestors took part in this battle and Kenny has been exploring the Blair Mountain area and documenting artifacts from this site for over 10 years. He has compiled an impressive record of the artifacts that still dot the battlefield’s landscape. In order to present an application for the National Register, Kenny needed assistance with the mapping, aerial photography and the historical narrative. That assistance was provided by Friends of the Mountains (FOM), a consortium of environmental groups of which WV Sierra Club is a member. (FOM meets monthly to coordinate efforts and activism against mountaintop removal in Appalachia). FOM and the WV Chapter contracted the services of Frank Unger, a historian from Walton, WV.

In the meantime, Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice and Environmental Public Education Campaign (EPEC) organizers initiated meetings with local citizens at Blair, WV, to empower them in their efforts to place this historic site on the register. Our campaign plan was laid out in accordance with the “Grassroots Organizing Training Manual.” This successful campaign made a believer of me.  Everything fell into place with timely press conferences which generated media hits nationwide, letter writing and postcard campaigns. (When I first became active with WV Chapter of Sierra Club, I looked at the organizing manual and thought this was a bit much time and detail. Fortunately I kept this opinion to myself and our efforts were well rewarded.)

Frank prepared the nomination and it was submitted to the WV State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for review in early 2004. SHPO determined that the Blair Mountain site was eligible for placement on the National Register and should be presented to the Archives and History Commission at the May 6, 2005 meeting. The Commission met at the Earl Ray Tomblin Convention Center (part of the Chief Logan State Park) where a standing room only crowd had assembled. After the meeting was called to order our consultant, Frank Unger of Past Respects, was the first presenter. Frank made a compelling Power Point presentation, along with maps and aerial photography of the nomination area, (a 10-mile intact ridgeline, consisting of 1600 acres). After the presentation a vote was taken and the Commission members voted unanimously to forward the nomination to National Park Service and recommend it’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

During the D.C. evaluation period the National Park Service granted a request for a 30-day extension from Jeff Vining, of the D.C. offices of Jackson and Kelly, the firm representing coal and landholding interests. When the 30-day extension expired on 26 September the NPS remanded the application to SHPO for Evaluation/Return Comments. They are requesting additional information on the assessment of integrity and justification of the boundary presented in the nomination. Frank Unger, our consultant, will be doing some additional work for us for the resubmission to National Park Service and the SHPO will be making an additional submission.

We have been fortunate to gain the support of labor history groups and others, local and nationwide. In September we were contacted by the National Trust for Historic Places who sent Nell Ziehl and Rob Nieweg of their Southern Field Office for a site visit. Kenny King took the National Trust personnel and a Preservation Magazine reporter for an inspection of the 10-mile Spruce Fork ridgeline. After the site visit the NTHP wrote a letter of support for the nomination. The Labor History Association has recently inducted Frank Keeney, an early UMWA organizer, into their Hall of Honor. In the early 1920’s, Mr. Keeney led the struggle to organize the miners in Logan and Mingo counties. In 1921 he was found innocent of murder and treason against the state when he was tried for his leadership in the miners’ armed march to Blair mountain.

TAKE ACTION: During a recent meeting with local citizens at Blair we’ve added to our campaign another postcard effort which is targeted to the Keeper of the Register at NPS. If you would like more information about the Blair Mountain Battle and its influence on American labor history and can help out by mailing one of our support cards, please contact me at regina1936@verizon.net.

Sid Hatfield’s gravestone with the inscription: His murder triggered miner’s rebellion at the Battle of Blair Mountain.