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Title details for The Mine Wars by Steve Watkins - Wait list

The Mine Wars

The Bloody Fight for Workers' Rights in the West Virginia Coalfields

by Steve Watkins
Will Tulin
Audiobook
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For fans of Steve Sheinkin and Deb Heiligman, a riveting true story of the West Virginia coal miners who ignited the largest labor uprising in American history.
In May of 1920, in a small town in the mountains of West Virginia, a dozen coal miners took a stand. They were sick of the low pay in the mines. The unsafe conditions. The brutal treatment they endured from mine owners and operators. The scrip they were paid—instead of cash—that could only be used at the company store.
They had tried to unionize, but the mine owners dug in. On that fateful day in May 1920, tensions boiled over and a gunfight erupted—beginning a yearlong standoff between workers and owners.
The miners pleaded, then protested, then went on strike; the owners retaliated with spying, bribery, and threats. Violence escalated on both sides, culminating in the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in United States history.
In this gripping narrative nonfiction book, meet the resolute and spirited people who fought for the rights of coal miners, and discover how the West Virginia Mine Wars paved the way for vital worker protections nationwide. More than a century later, this overlooked story of the labor movement remains urgently relevant.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 25, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781547614172
      • File size: 137184 KB
      • Duration: 04:45:47

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 26, 2024
      The Great West Virginia Mine Wars of 1920 are unknown to most Americans, according to Watkins (Stolen by Night) in this relevant and enlightening read. Forced to work 10- to 12-hour days in unsafe conditions under the brutal treatment of a violent guard system for credits, or scrip pay only usable at their employer’s store, West Virginia miners attempted to unionize. The mine owners and state government responded by hiring local lawmen and “gun thugs” from Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, the mine guard company, to union-bust by terrorizing the workers; the gun thugs beat the employees and destroyed their homes, and the owners brought in hundreds of scabs to work the dormant mines. But the striking miners fought back, “igniting the greatest armed insurrection in America since the Civil War,” a yearlong conflict that only ended when federal troops were sent in. In spare and honest text, Watkins explains that the Mine Wars were a part of history that was not just overlooked but intentionally buried by “the powers that be in West Virginia, the coal owners and their politicians, ran a deliberate disinformation campaign.” Archival b&w photographs, newspaper clippings, and political cartoons throughout illustrate the miners’ hazardous working conditions, prominent figures, and common sentiments during this period. Sources, end notes and more conclude. Ages 10–14. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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