Eight canaries who were poor singers were caged at the Hanna Coal Company offices by the miners who had scoured the countryside to find them. The chirp of the yellow bird was a strange contrast to the gloom that hung in the air. The canary bird organs are much more sensitive than a human's organs, and the birds were used to detect poisonous gases. Canaries reacted to explosive methane gas faster than the tiny  gasoline safety light used at that time. The birds were also used to detect black damp which is carbon dioxide and after damp which is carbon monoxide. The yellow songsters commanded great respect because they were designated as martyrs to save the lives of men who explored shattered mine passages searching for survivors.

For more detailed information, see David Kuchta's "Mine Canaries" at
http://www.tccweb.org/pennsylv.htm#Mine Canaries
Kuchta's other articles are also of interest, although they are primarily about Pennsylvania Coal.  I read at his site, for the first time, an account of the "Lattimer Massacre," an incident in which 25 miners died in a labor struggle after being shot by a local sheriff and deputies asked by the mine owner to stop the miners' march.  This account says the miners were unarmed.

Julia Imholt
Do you have any idea of what educational standards were in these towns?  Were there schools in the area?  Do you know anything about the daily lives of the women in these towns?  What were the day to day activities like?  Dances on Friday night?  Did the families of the miners tend to associate with the families of the coal company owners?

Julia,
There are varying accounts which my depend on the individual camps or on who is doing the tellings, or what documents remain to tell the story.  David Corbin writes that coal companies subsidized schooling for both black and white schools including subsidizing teacher pay.  Corbin writes that as long as teachers did not teach labor issues, they had complete control.  Black teachers sponsored "Negro History week"  and had students create posters that were displayed in "mine offices, company stores, and the school."  The week ended with a parade and students playing famous black Americans.  (Life, 72) 

The coal companies exercised their greatest influence on  educational policy at the local level.  Taking advantage of the decentralized school system, the coal companies funneled tremendous amounts of aid into the local schools.  They subsidized the building of schools and provided them with equipment.  Public education in McDowell County in 1885 consisted of nine log-cabin schools, worth less than $100 each, and the school term was only three months a year.  In 1904, largely as a result of the efforts of the coal companies, the county had seventy-eight schools, worth between $300 and $600 each and the school term was eight months.  The coal companies in Logan County spent nearly $100,000 on education within a four month period. (Life, 71)

See questions from 10/3/00 for more on the role of women. 

As far as entertainment, again there are varying accounts, and some of my sources generally discuss leisure over a larger period that the time we are studying.  I can tell you that baseball was very popular and I recall a reference to the "Coal Field League" as early as 1916.  You'll see this dramatized in Giardina's Storming Heaven.
Some towns had theatres, YMCAs and community centers build or subsidized by coal companies.   There were also saloons, although some operators saw alcohol consumption as a major problem; and there was also moonshine available to miners as well.

Many families gardened, so in addition to daily household chores, which likely would   have included hauling water from a pump or well shared with other residents, there would be the garden to tend in season, children to be fed and cared for.  (No school lunches, so one account reminds us children would come home for a lunch.)

Hannah Watkins Were there any other employment options other than farming and coal mining for these workers? It seems that farming would have been less risky and more profitable than all of this mine hardship and oppression.

Hannah,
In some areas or instances, native miners who had land would farm as well as mine.   Miners in this position were far less susceptible to mine closings, strikes, and so on. Mining provided them with extra income.  Many miners, however, left an agrarian life looking for work that paid a wage.  Or came from agrarian backgrounds in the deep south or from European countries.  |

Laura Parrish
It seems as though in the coal towns, there were no other jobs outside of coal mining or other jobs supplied by the coal companies. Is this the case, or were there other profitable jobs in the area, possibly around before the mining began. Along these lines, was there an issue of family businesses being run out of business by the company store and due to the fact that coal miners received only scrip and could only shop at the company store?

Laura,
In the instance in which the camp was built apart from a town, I suppose the camp store might have been, at least at the start, the only local business.  Savage's text certainly makes it clear that by 1921 there was as strong merchant and middle class that had built up around the region.  I imagine that businesses came in the wake of coal companies, but I am not clear on the economic relationships given the scrip system.   (I remember from Matewan that there is a sign in C.E. Lively's restaurant that said he accepted scrip--fifty cents on the dollar.)

I don't know much about the qualifications for railroad workers or what the availibility of jobs were.   Savage makes reference to Sid Hatfield working his way up to a job outside the mines and makes reference to some training as a blacksmith. 

Martha O'Dell
Is there any literature on the managers or owners of the coal companies? We have been talking about the coal companies, but not about the people involved in hiring the Baldwin-Felts agents. Are there any books that are from that perspective?

Martha,
The only book I'm aware of  right now is one by John Velkes on the Baldwin-Felts agents; this book takes a stance that the agents were wrongly characterized as murderers and thugs. See http://www.mhpress.com/baldwinfelts.html for more on Velkes' book.  See also Tamara's question on the Felt's agents on questions 10-3.

Daniel Lupton
I suppose this isn't an easily answerable question, but why was the appropriation of other art so prevalent? Most of the songs that we have listened to have been set to the tune of other songs. It seems that that is a very modern thing to do, which is at odds with the image that we (or at least I) have of West Virginia as this pastoral, pure place that time forgot.  Besides music, what other forms of art did these people produce? I suppose rhetoric was important, in the church and in the union... was there a similar use of appropriation in these things? Does this have any significance to their situation? How might I exploit this angle in a creative project? *wink wink nudge nudge*

Daniel,
The songs date to the time, but not necessarily to the region.  Ralph Chaplin, who wrote "Solidarity Forever" came to the coalfields as an outsider.  Most of the songs we've listed to are affiliated with the Wobblies.  The Wobblies used music much like the Salvation Army (or as the Wobblies called them, "starvation army") used music; they tried to rally interest through rousing songs and hymns.  The Wobblies took these familiar tunes and wrote their own lyrics for them and used song to rally support.  There is much suggestion that the union movement appropriated the rhetoric and texts of Christianity to "preach union."  There is much here you could consider for a project.  Look in your packet from week2  for the tract produced by a coal company citing biblical text as an anti-union pamphlet.   "Idleness is hell--The Devil's workshop.  Keep busy."

Theresa Young
What was the life expectancy of the families in the camps. I suspect that between mining accidents, disease and the living conditions, the death rates would be much higher than in the nearby cities such as Charleston. Maybe I will find some information as I do my research for my project.

Theresa,
Although this doesn't directly address life expectancy, Fagge, in Power, Culture, and Community in the Coalfields writes about living and health conditions.

The attempts to combat disease were hampered by the lack of interest in, and critical underfunding of, health care.  In 1918, for example, the State of West Virginia was giving barely two cents per capita , compared with a suggestion by the Amercian Public Health Association that an appropriation of 25 cents would be desirable. . . . This lack of interest in the health of the mining communities was reinforced by the fact that, as with every other agency in the State, certain officials in the Health Department had a direct interest in the coal industry. (55)

Rachael Taft
Are there any court testimonies of the bluefield agents about the matewan massacre? We have Sid's view and his widow's, what did the agents claim had happened? In Sayles depiction of the final fight scene, Hatfield shoots first, was this from someones witness account or just his artistic lisence?

Rachel,
There are varying accounts of what happened.  According to Howard Lee in Bloodletting in Appalachia, one doctor from Matwan later claimed that Hatfield put a bullet in the back of Albert Felt's head.  I will hand out in class an article that provides a perspective on the event based on the papers in the possesion of the Baldwin-Felts agency.

Savage mentions that 3000 people come to the funerals of the Al and Lee Felts in Galax, Virginia.  It would be interesting to read an account of that funeral and those who came to honor the Felts brothers.

david shepherd
What political view is the UMA most closely identified with? (communist, socialist, etc) Can you elaborate on the "Wobblies" again (was that the IWW, i am unclear on this point)?

David,
I'll review in class a timeline of labor history.  The character of Joe Kenehan would have been representing the United Mine Workers of America, but mentions that he is a former Wobbly.  We are listening to Wobbly songs because it was that group that most visibly produced and published such texts.  So the songs are on the table for the class to give you a sense of the pro-union rhetoric and the ways in which the union used familiar (often religious) song tunes as a vehicle for their arguments. 

As for the United Mine Workers of America and affilication, the following passage from Fagge is useful

Under the inspirational, if sometimes inconsistent, leadership of Eugene V. Debs, the SPA [Socialist Party of America] had not only made electoral advances, but increased its influence within the trade unions, including the powerful UMWA.   Thus at the 1912 annual conference the union voted in favour of "government ownership" of all industries, and added to the constituion the demand that miners be given "the full social value of our product."  They also, while heavily rejecting the specific support of the SPA, struck out the clause wihin the UMWA constituion which demanded political neutrality.  The more positive stance towards the SPA on behalf of the UMWA, the wider trade union movement, and the electorate generally, proved short-lived, however as divisions whithn the SPA, the war, State repression, and social and political changes led to a precipitous collaps in support. (Power, 211)

Fagge characterizes the IWW as the "main left-wing revolutionary alternative" (220) and quotes IWW activist Ralph Chaplin who you know from his song "Solidarity Forever."  Chaplin wrote

There was little use in proclaiming the virtues of the IWW to the striking coal miners or the hill folks . . .(as) . . .The miners only ony had a union already and an industrial union of sorts, but, being in the middle of a two year strike, they were certainly more interested in remaining alive than in listening to arguments in favor of dual organisation."  (221)

Laura Parrish
Regarding rules and regulations--I am also interested in any safety regulations that may have been imposed on the coal companies. What were they and were they enforced. I would imagine that even if there were such regulations, they did not become of importance until many deaths and injuries had already occurred. Is this the case?

Laura,
The number of fatal accidents suggest that safety conditions were poor whatever regulations were or were not on the books.  Given the regional power of the coal operators, it seems unlikely that they were under too much pressure to bow to outside regulation.  My reply, however, is not grounded in reading or research, so I would urge you to pursue this more deeply if it is of interest to you  or important to your project.  Fagge, in Power, Culture, and Conflict in the Coalfields discusses how much better the safety record of mines are in Wales compared to the southwest field of West Virginia.

see http://www.state.wv.us/mhst/disaster.htm for a chart showing West Virginia mine disasters and fatalities from 1884-present.   You can also get a sense of the current dangers of this work by following the links to recent "serious accidents" or "fatal accidents."   There is a lot of intersting information at this site including information on the mine map archives and a "coal facts" page.

david shepherd
i would be interested to know about the commercial sucess or lack thereof of the film "Matewan." I know that it won an academy award, but how did it fair at the box office?

According the Internet Movie Database
Budget 4m     (US)
Gross 1.68m   (US)
Link to awards info.

Michael Keller Why mine "massacre" and "wars"? Who first used this language to describe the events? How does such language cast a different light than, say, "incident" and "conflict."

Rereading Savages' book, "war" seems right given the military stances and formations on both sides and the imposition, lifting, and reimpositions of maritial law.  And "massacre" doesn't seem off track for the incidents at Matewan; in fact, it was pretty clearly a massacre to the agents and their families.

Rachael Taft
In the movie they mentioned the coal dust could fill the air with coal gas which would ignite, they also said it could be prevented by spraying the walls down, what did they spray the walls with? how did the mayor of the town get to be mayor without having to go through the company? s2rrtaft@titan.vcu.edu

Rachel,
I have read now references to spraying the walls with water to keep the dust down and to using rock dust (which is non explosive) to help keep the coal dust from becoming airborne and explosive.  FYI, here is a link to comtemporary Illinois statutes on spraying and dusting.  http://www.legis.state.il.us/ilcs/ch225/ch225act705articles/ch225act705Sub24.htm

As far as Mayor Testerman being mayor, it seems Matewan was an inorporated town near which Stone Mountain Coal Company opened a mine.  This would explain the town infrastructure, sheriff, and so on.   The following is from http://www.matewan.com/Town/town.htm

Matewan was founded in 1895 when the Norfolk and Western Railway entered the valley to open the Williamson Coalfield. As a stop on the N&W's main line, the town supplied goods to the surrounding mining communities. Miners, railroad workers and locals caroused and gambled in Matewan's saloons.

Regarding the unincorporated coal camps Corbin writes

Because the company towns were unincorporated, there were no local political officals, no mayor, no city council, no ward boss to attend to the immediate interests of the miners--there was only the coal operator.  A former resident of Widen recalled that the coal operator there "governed completely.   He was Mayour, Council, Big Boss, sole trustee of the school, truant officer, president of the bank; in fact he was everything. (Life, 10)