Blair Mountain in WV Needs Your Help

This isn’t about Lattimer, but it is part of the story of the struggle for better working conditions, fair treatment of workers, and all the greed and corruption that surrounds those issues —

There’s a bit about Blair Mountain in the Related Sites section of this blog, which mentions the controversy over listing/de-listing the site on the National Register of Historic Places.  Blair Mountain is the site of a huge rebellion born of horrible working conditions in the southern coalfields, and the murder of a police chief who had befriended the miners.  I received an email yesterday (below) that made me think I should put this information on the front page.  Check out the Friends of Blair Mountain!  Here’s the email:

“The Blair Mountain battlefield in West Virginia is the site of the largest labor insurrection in US history. Currently, the site is threatened by mountain top removal operations, and extremely destructive forms of coal extraction practices, primarily in impoverished regions of Appalachia.

We have been attempting to get the mountain listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which we were successful doing for about a month until opposition from coal operators caused the mountain to be delisted. There were multiple discrepancies in this process.

Working with local citizens, The National Trust of Historic Places, Sierra Club, and Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition have filed a petition asking the National Park Service to reevaluate the listing on the National Register.

More information containing all links to the press release, the petition, video of the disturbance, and a report on the disturbance can be found at our website, www.friendsofblairmountain.org

For us West Virginians, Blair Mountain occupies is an extremely significant place in our history, and we would like to preserve this site for future generations. If you follow the link above, there is information about how you can help us save Blair Mountain.”

Camp Branch mine by the Blair Mountain battlefield