West Virginia

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• SOURCE: NPR
  2/13/2023
  

  Evidence of Political Pressure in Firing of West Va. Radio Reporter

  Insiders claim a growing pattern of political pressure from the office of Governor Jim Justice to use the threat of defunding to defang public radio coverage of state affairs. 

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• SOURCE: BBC
  10/24/2022
  

  The Hidden History of Black Coal Towns

  The New River Gorge is one of the newest National Parks. Beyond natural beauty, the region allows visitors to learn the history of African American coal miners and their communities in West Virginia. 

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• SOURCE: WHYY
  12/3/2021
  

  Blair Mountain, West Virginia Still Shows the Grip of the Coal Industry

  “It was kind of weird growing up, knowing that there was a war fought here and nobody knew about it, and there’s no monuments to it,” Professor Chuck Keeney said. Others believe the story of the mine wars has been suppressed because it challenges the image of big coal as a benevolent force in the state. 

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• 10/17/2021
  

  West Virginia's Founding Politicians Understood Democracy Better than Today's

  by Daniel W. Sunshine

  The filibuster, as currently constructed, violates what West Virginia founder Waitman Willey described as “the great fundamental political right of the majority to rule.” West Virginia’s quest to improve their democracy offers lessons on how to heal our own.

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/6/2021
  

  Too Few Today Remember the Bloody Uprising of Miners at Blair Mountain

  In a region still marked by rampant inequality, the public forgetting of the Battle of Blair Mountain seems like a concerted effort to suppress working people's history. 

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• SOURCE: The Nation
  8/30/2021
  

  The 100th Anniversary of the Biggest Uprising Since the Civil War

  by Samuel Fleischman

  West Virginia coal country needs to recover the tradition of solidarity that developed during the state's deadly mine wars to move to a fair post-coal future. 

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• SOURCE: Economic Policy Institute
  8/25/2021
  

  A Century After Blair Mountain, the Right to Organize is as Vital as Ever

  by Dave Kamper

  "In many mining regions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mine companies for all practical purposes were the government."

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• SOURCE: WVNews
  4/28/2021
  

  West Virginia Univ. Researcher Wins Carnegie Award for Study of Appalachian Feminism

  Jessica Wilkerson's research examines how the women's movement unfolded in places outside the nation's urban centers and how women decided what constituted "women's issues" in their own communities in Appalachia. 

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• SOURCE: Folklife
  3/1/2021
  

  “Making a Living by the Sweat of Her Brow”: Hazel Dickens and a Life of Work

  by Emily Hilliard

  "Hazel’s song catalog is often divided into separate categories of personal songs, women’s songs, and labor songs. But in her view and experience, these issues all bled together; her songs address struggle against any form of domination and oppression, whether of women, workers, or herself."

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/8/2021
  

  West Virginia Has Everyone’s Attention. What Does It Really Need?

  by Emily Badger

  The influence of Senator Joe Manchin in Washington has fueled speculation about federal aid to depressed communities in the Mountaineer State. But historians like William Hal Gorby and in-state activists say that there will be no quick fixes. 

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• SOURCE: Associated Press
  5/18/2020
  

  ‘Matewan Massacre’ A Century Ago Embodied Miners’ Struggles

  Historian Lou Martin, a board member of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, recounts the oppressive atmosphere in mining towns that led to a violently repressed unionization drive.

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• SOURCE: The Washington Post
  10-16-17
  

  Civil War’s legacy hangs over a plaque honoring Confederate soldiers

  A plaque honoring Confederate soldiers was placed on the Jefferson County Courthouse in West Virginia, where slaves were once sold.

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• SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
  8-5-17
  

  West Virginia's immigration 'problem'

  by Walter D. Kamphoefner

  Mainstream America is as seductive as ever, yet immigrants are almost as rare as coal miners in the Mountain State.

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• SOURCE: The Daily Beast
  2-5-15
  

  West Virginia Coal Mine Owners Have Blood on Their Hands

  by James Green

  The bloody history of mine workers in West Virginia is truly as dark as any dungeon, but the recent indictment of a mine owner suggests that maybe the tide has turned.

• SOURCE: AP
  6-20-13
  

  W.Va celebrates 150th anniversary

  CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia got its 150th birthday party started Thursday with a bell-ringing ceremony, festivals, speeches, concerts — and lots of cake.On the state Capitol steps, hundreds of people watched as a bell rang 35 times to honor West Virginia’s entrance as the 35th state on June 20, 1863.“This is not just an important day in our state history,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said. “It’s a great day in American history.”The state Culture Center also was bustling with activity as visitors listened to folk music, bought West Virginia Forever birthday stamps that debuted Thursday and attended the Charleston Light Opera Guild’s free performance of the Broadway musical “Civil War.”...