Now PBS, 'THE MINE WARS', American Experience, MOTHER JONES, WV Union Struggles,*NEW 2016, WETA

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Tue Jan 26, 2016, 11:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Excellent New *Premier Tonight, Jan. 26, 2016
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/theminewars/

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365613128/

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http://www.herald-dispatch.com/features_entertainment/pbs-documentary-series-american-experience-to-premiere-the-mine-wars/article_50c425dc-b975-11e5-bd18-0f92ff3fd97c.html



Miners and working mules in Gary, WV 1908

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. You beat me to it! This looks like a fascinating show.

About Mother Jones and the union movement for miners.

[appalachiablue]

2. Interesting new program. Those were very difficult times in the southern coal fields

of WV in the early 20th c. when owners fiercely fought unionization. The brutal exploitation of people and natural resources there is criminal, like the fortunes made off the backs of poorly paid workers, their land stolen and polluted with no labor advances until FDR in the 1930s. Said as a native born of the area.

[appalachiablue]

3. 'Mother' Mary Harris Jones, The Angel of the Miners (1830-1930)

"Mother" Jones was American Labor's best known "agitator" in the turn of the century era. She was especially close to the coal miners whom she referred to as her "boys," but she went anywhere when called on for help.

written by Mara Lou Hawse

The elderly woman smoothed her black dress and touched the lace at her throat and wrists. Her snow-white hair was gathered into a knot at the nape of her neck, and a black hat, trimmed with lavender ribbons to lend a touch of color, shaded her finely wrinkled face. She was about five feet tall, but she exuded energy and enthusiasm. As she waited to speak, her bright blue eyes scanned the people grouped beyond the platform. Her kindly expression never altered as her voice broke over the audience: "I'm not a humanitarian," she exclaimed. "I'm a hell-raiser."

She was Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, and her size and grandmotherly appearance belied her fiery nature. When she stepped on a stage, she became a dynamic speaker. She projected wide variations in emotion, sometimes striding about the stage in "a towering rage." She could bring her audience to the verge of tears or have them clapping and "bursting with laughter." She was a good story teller, and "she excelled in invective, pathos, and humor ranging from irony to ridicule."

Mother Jones's low, pleasant voice had great carrying power. It was unusual because it "did not become shrill when she became excited but, rather, dropped in pitch so that 'the intensity of it became something you could almost feel physically.' When she rose to speak, Mother Jones 'seemed to explode in all directions' . . . and suddenly everyone sat up alert and listened. No matter what impossible ideas she brought up, she made the miners think she and they together could do anything."

con't http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/articles/172-mother-jones-the-miners-angel.html

[appalachiablue]

4. "Matewan", 1987 movie by director John Sayles. Dramatization of the miners' strike

in the community of Matewan, WV in 1920. Film starring James Earl Jones, Chris Cooper and others.

[tammywammy]

5. It's on but I haven't been paying attention

I dvr American Experience, will have to watch it again this weekend.

[appalachiablue]

6. I've learned a lot from this documentary, the best I've ever seen on the subject I know well.

Be sure to watch.

[tammywammy]

7. I love American Experience in general

It auto records every episode.

[appalachiablue]

8. Same here, American Experience and Finding Your Roots. Tonight host Henry Gates

did the genealogies of Norman Lear, Jimmy Kimmel and Bill Hader the comedian formerly of SNL. Amazing finds.

[tammywammy]

9. My other standard is Nova

But today was a busy brain day at work. I finished my thinking hours ago. Must rest before more data crunching tomorrow. Heh.

This is why a lot of evenings I end up watching Big Bang Theory or Family Guy reruns. No thinking.

[appalachiablue]

10. NOVA is interesting too. Rest well tonight :)

[mountain grammy]

11. Watching it now..

[appalachiablue]

12. Best doumentary on the subject I've seen, esp. the rarer film footage & historical evidence.

First rate, A+.

[mountain grammy]

15. It really was excellent.

I mentioned to a friend, my age, that Mother Jones was 100 when she died. Who's Mother Jones? She asked. Here in Colorado, home of Ludlow... Depressing.

[SMC22307]

13. It's disappointing there's not more interest in this on DU.

Just finished watching it... sad, infuriating, you name it!

?rendition=image480





Surrendering arms after the Battle of Blair Mountain


That was a hard fucking life.

[appalachiablue]

14. Even the Heavens Weep in West Virginia. Strong, proud people who have endured

ridicule and hardship that we've been spared because of the courage and hard fought struggles by workers and leaders for decades.

[Eleanors38]

17. Great post. Those guys were heavily armed for reason. They still are.

[appalachiablue]

18. Got that right! For good or bad. It's not called 'Medieval West Virginia' for nothin' :)

What a beautiful, mountainous land. And rugged people, also a lot of 'characters', for good reason. Although I never knew it until later in life, the family is kin to Hatfields. Or rather, they are mixed with us on the main line of Devil Anse, patriarch. The reason it wasn't brought up is because there was a major betrayal, and break bigtime, on the part of a Hatfield. He asked forgiveness on his deathbed many years later from the injured relative who said nope. Mountain justice. In school there feuding studies are mandatory. I jest.

[tabasco]

20. I weep every time I see one of theose "Friends of Coal" bumper stickers

Big Coal has done nothing but treat miners like slaves, as much as they can get away with it.

[appalachiablue]

21. That is true, but what other jobs are there? Mainly Walmart and services, teachers, restaurants,

some hospitals and a few colleges. And the dreaded chemical companies. The state was left behind in economic investment since the late 70s like many areas. Major industrial employers like the C & O, International Nickel (Inko), Textile Mfg. left in the early 80s.

[tabasco]

23. West Virgina has nearly 800,000 people working

Only 20,000 are coal miners, as of 2013.

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.wv.htm

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_and_jobs_in_the_United_States

The cessation of the coal industry must be expected and planned for. But idiot politicians are unlikely to make it an easy transition. I can see WV as a great place for tourism, medical, high tech, sustainable logging, education and other industries. But idiot politicians will cling to coal with their dying breaths, making the loss of the coal industry more painful for the people of WV.

[appalachiablue]

25. That info. is true & miners jobs have actually diminished from automation, explosives

and other factors since the late 1960s. A sad state of affairs as the establishment uses coal as a political weapon to anger and sway residents. The industries and occupations you mention would be so beneficial for the Mountaineer state I agree. In the last 30+ years, mass exodus brain drain of locals to other states and stifled economic growth have been very harmful. To my dying days, not adding a law school to Marshall University in Htgn. will gall me.

Because of it's close proximity to the growing, more affluent metro WDC area, West By God Virginia is ideal for weekend tourism, nature trips, and vacation properties and homes. That opportunity was tried with some skiing and mountain resorts but not developed as much as it should have been IMO. By now it could have been flourishing, like the popular ocean-beach Delmarva area for Washingtonians and Baltimore residents. Also visitors from NY, NJ, PA and elsewhere.



Montani Semper Liberi- Mountaineers Are Always Free

[Octafish]

16. I love West Virginia and West Virginians.

During the Civil War, the people stayed loyal to the union, helping create a new state.

The people believed -- and those from West Virginia whom I have had the privilege to know still believe -- that people are more important than things.

Thank you, appalachiablue, for the heads-up on the PBS American Experience program.

http://www.pbs.org/show/american-experience/

[appalachiablue]

19. That's great you know WV history and people. Most don't realize that joining the Union

and breaking from VA in 1861 was the birth of the state (1863). Two ancestors from so. WV, brothers fought for the Union, were captured and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond but survived.
Mountaineers do value family, community and nature which surrounds them more than material things I'd agree. There are some real characters too, often hardy, on the tough side but appreciative of humor, music, wisdom and common sense is necessity.
This documentary is the most comprehensive I've ever seen on the subject, in terms of the chronology and circumstances of the events, the people involved, and the rare film footage of tent camps, woods, bi-planes, military resources, sabotage and fighting. Excellent production.

[Octafish]

22. Thank you!

Here in Detroit, most of us are Lions fans. Before Selection 2000, I spent too much time blogging with others about our team. After 9-11, most of my online time was for DU.

One of the wise and great people who followed and posted about the Lions was from West Virginia, Mr. Robert F. of Huntington. His father was from Detroit, so as he grew up they would follow the team from their home in Huntington.

Mr. F. liked to write about his life away from football, too, describing his two beautiful daughters and how the local boys would drive him crazy. He was a Vietnam war combat veteran and pretty much conservative when it came to Washington, but we respected each other and had a heck of a lot of fun talking football and trading an occasional barb about Nixon or LBJ.

The thing was, no matter what we said, or whose ox got gored in some argument or some joke, we were and stayed friends -- loyal to the team and to each other.

While we just knew each other online, Mr. F really was a friend for real life. When the Lions drafted a new quarterback -- Joey Harrington -- Mr. F couldn't wait to see him in action. Unable to get the team on the computer or cable for the first pre-season game, this was 2002, he asked if I would videotape the action. I did and sent it to him via the post. A few days later, my wife received a giant fruit basket from Harry & David to say, "Thanks!" What a guy.

When Mr. F. passed away, seemingly without warning, as he had never breathed a word of his illness, it was as if I had lost a brother. His widow asked the owner of the site to track me down. I hadn't posted in several years, but she wanted me to know the news. My heart fell through my shirt when I heard.

A couple of years later I had business in Marietta, Ohio. I took the opportunity for a day trip through western West Virginia. I crossed the Ohio River and set over to Parkersburg and followed the river southwest to Huntington to pay my respects. Looking at the map, it seemed closer than it was. No problems, though. It was a beautiful day and more beautiful country.

In Huntington, I found the cemetery where my friend rests. The people managing the place were surprised when I told them I was from Detroit. They were very kind to me. I dropped off the only Lions memorabilia I had, a "Terrible Towel" knock-off with the leaping Lion logo handed out to fans for some home game or another. I wanted him to know that I cared and still care.

[tabasco]

24. I like the way Joe Manchin portrays it, which is accurate.

West Virginia didn't leave Virginia, Virginia left us.