West Virginia Mine Wars

New Graphic Novel Illustrates The West Virginia Mine Wars

The West Virginia Mine Wars are an important but little known piece of American history. Coal miners in southern West Virginia had been trying to organize a union, while coal companies tried to stop them. Strikes and violent clashes ensued, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. A version of the story is told in the new graphic novel “Black Coal and Red Bandanas: An Illustrated History of the West Virginia Mine Wars.” Mason Adams spoke with its author, Raymond Tyler.

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The Mine Wars Come Alive For Young Readers And Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, a young adult author hopes to bring the story of the struggle to unionize coal mines to today’s young readers, and our Song of the Week.

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February 25, 1903: Lawman Cunningham Leads an Armed Posse into Stanaford

On February 25, 1903, an early labor-related shootout took place at Stanaford, near Beckley. At dawn, Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Cunningham led an armed…

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