Publisher's Synopsis
A brand new title, The Blair Mountain War: Battle of the Rednecks, tells the true story of the Blair Mountain War, the largest organized armed uprising in US labor history and led almost directly to the national labor laws currently in effect. The title's release comes at a time of controversy surrounding Blair Mountain as state officials ask the National Parks Service to remove the mountain from the National Register of Historic Places. This is on the heels of the historic mountain just being named to the National Register last month, on Monday, March 30th. Objectors seem to be a coordinated campaign by landowning and coal companies that are gathering signatures of property holders to oppose the nomination. "The Blair Mountain War: Battle of the Rednecks is a reprinting of the writings of George T. Swain," said Keith Davis, of Woodland Press, publishers of the title, "and it has great historic significance to southern West Virginia. It will certainly appeal to all lovers of history." At the time of this original manuscript, written in 1927, Swain was a reporter for the county newspaper, The Logan County Banner, in Logan. Here Swain paints a vivid picture, in his most unique style, of West Virginia in bygone days. Here he documents the accounts surrounding the 1921 Blair Mountain War and the struggle between state coal miners, calling themselves "rednecks," and the people of Logan. Granted, Swain was a staunch supporter of the controversial and powerful Logan County Sheriff Don Chafin at the time of this writing, so his particular take on the mine war is from that perspective. When he describes Logan County miners in this manuscript, he portrays them as being largely content and well-treated by mine operators. Yet, the truth was that there was a great deal of discontent in the Logan coalfields in 1921. As the late state historian Robert Y. Spence once wrote: "There was the resentment of difficult work for little pay. There was resentment caused by the mine owners' refusal to negotiate with the miners' union. Most of all, there was resentment of the attitude the mine owners had for the men who worked underground supporting the owners' way of living." Sheriff Chafin and mine operators within the county were defiant over and opposed to the unionization of the Logan field. For this, and for other related events that took place in the state, tensions escalated and, eventually, war ensued. It's been written that the result of this battle at Blair Mountain marked a turning point in the national movement to better the conditions of working people by demanding the legalization of unions. It was the largest armed labor confrontation in U.S. history. To this day, the Blair Mountain War stands as a powerful symbol for workers, even though Swain wearily concludes that the battle was a "foolhardy undertaking." "For historic purposes, this volume has great importance," Davis added, "and it specifically describes what was happening in the City of Logan, and throughout the county, after the miners' march began. Supporters rallied to Logan's defense at the time, and, eventually, federal troops were sent into the city by US President Warren Harding. This bit of West Virginia has national significance." The West Virginia State Archives stated that the mine wars have demonstrated the inability of the state and federal governments to defuse the situations short of initiating armed intervention. Regardless, the details behind The Blair Mountain War remain fascinating and controversial. True American history, The Battle of Blair Mountain is a fascinating account.
