Matewan Massacre: Landmark Struggle For Miner & Worker Rights 101 Years Ago, May 19, 1920

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sat May 22, 2021, 04:56 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016293711

X-Post from Editorials, West Virginia, Appalachia.

[Deuxcents]

1. PBS had a great

Documentary on that a while ago. I had known about it from my union days but the documentary was very good n I learned a lot.

[appalachiablue]

2. The PBS Amer. Experience 'Mine Wars' (2019)

is excellent. My roots are deep in that locale and era, hence the in- depth post. In school there was nothing taught on workers' struggles, unionization, US labor history or the WV Mine Wars. Like many, I didn't learn the history until decades later.

- PBS, The Mine Wars (2019)
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/theminewars/

(PBS 'Learning Experience' on WV Public Media covered the topic, at least 'Matewan' but I didn't see a full program, only a clip online).

Several books on labor struggles, esp. in factories and mines have been written by labor historians and journalists in the last 20+ years as well.
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*With 'Matewan' in 1987, director John Sayles really broke the dam. The movie was inspired by his travels across country and through southern WV and KY? in the 1970s; he heard the stories. 'Norma Rae' with Sally Fields and a few other films also added to the effort.
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PS *"Plutocracy," a newer independent film by Scott Noble, Metanoia Films is outstanding. It covers US labor history extensively in several episodes, some have posted here. Free Speech TV online often airs it, and episodes of the documentary are available on YouTube and 'Films for Action' online. https://www.filmsforaction.org/

"Absolutely brilliant on numerous levels. While there have been many other important documentaries about individual strikes and/or strike movements, Plutocracy has succeeded at generalizing the political lessons of an entire era in U.S. Labor history from a working-class viewpoint."

- Sharon Smith, Author, Subterranean Fire: A History of Working Class Radicalism in the United States

> Watch the whole series on Films For Action (1-3): http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/p...Produced by Scott Noble / Metanoia Films