Central Appalachia EJ Program
Bill Price: EJ Resource Coordinator
922 Quarrier Street
Suite 304
Charleston, WV 25301
304-342-3182
304-342-3183 (fax)
304-389-8822 (cell)
bill.price@sierraclub.org
Bill McCabe: EJ Organizer
726 Clinch Mountain Road
Eidson, TN 37731
423-944-3220
423-944-3221 (fax)
423-327-2820 (cell)
bill.mccabe@sierraclub.org
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Regional Projects: Central Appalachia: Blair Mountain
 Read
about the Sierra Club's lawsuit to protect Blair Mountain.
The Battle of Blair Mountain- Past and Present
In 1921 on Blair Mountain, 10,000 coal miners rose up against coal barons
in defense of their right to unionize.
The undeclared civil war that followed lasted ten days and
became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain. This legendary
event is now characterized as America's largest-ever labor
struggle. The shooting war pitted union and anti-union forces
against one another in the mountains of Logan, West Virginia,
culminated in the arrival of federal troops at the governor's
request and bears the distinction of being the only time the
United States has bombed its own soil.
The battle did not result
in the immediate unionization of the southern West Virginia
coal fields, but through the confrontation,
the United Mine Workers of America won a moral victory. It
brought broad exposure to the everyday injustices endured by
working men and women in the mines, and support for unions
grew. Union efforts in the area were eventually vindicated
with the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which
in 1933 legalized the right of coal miners to join a union
without the fear of reprisals from mine owners or operators.
Today,
another battle is being fought on Blair Mountain. Despite widespread
efforts to preserve this valuable place as a historic
site, a mountaintop removal permit is pending on land where
parts of the battle occurred. Mountaintop removal blasts the
earth and rock of mountaintops apart and fills valleys with
debris. This irresponsible mining practice has already destroyed
too much of our Appalachian cultural and environmental heritage.
Now it threatens to obliterate one of our most hallowed historic
sites. Local citizens, historians, and environmental organizations
believe that Blair Mountain is too integral a part of American
history to be destroyed by this irresponsible practice.
Last
year, the State of West Virginia submitted a nomination to
the Department of Interior for Blair Mountain's inclusion
on the National Register of Historic Places. The Interior Department
subsequently returned the application, requesting additional
information. Meanwhile, mining companies and landowners who
stand to profit from mining on the site filed a lawsuit challenging
the petition for historic status.
The Sierra Club has entered
a lawsuit to protect Blair Mountain as a historic place, in
conjunction with the State of West
Virginia, the Friends of the Mountains Coalition and the Keeper
of the Mountains Foundation.
The respected National Trust for
Historic Preservation also believes that Blair Mountain is
too valuable to be blasted
apart. The organization named the site as one of America's
11 Most Endangered Places.
"It is particularly important, given the recent mining
tragedies in West Virginia, that we not lose this symbol of
the bravery and determination of union miners to improve their
working conditions," said Richard Moe, president of the
National Trust. "It is incumbent upon the property owners
and preservationists to work together to permanently protect
and interpret this little known but highly significant historic
place."
Protecting Blair Mountain and developing an interpretive
program for tourists would bring economic benefit to the local
community,
while allowing West Virginians to pass down this unique piece
of American history.
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