New Straitsville, Ohio, was founded as a coal town in the Hocking Valley after the Civil War. Labor unrest happened in the 1880’s, leading to the Great Hocking Valley coal strike. During that strike something unthinkable happened, and is still happening today.
On this episode of the podcast we tell that story.
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Great story! By the way, you mentioned that the race to exploit the natural resources after the Civil War soon moved south into Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. I don’t think you mentioned Tennessee. There were two major “coal wars” in Tennessee. Both were largely connected to the state’s leasing of mostly Black prisoners to the mine owners for cheap, forced labor. Known as the convict lease system, use of convicted men to work the mines flourished toward the end of the 19th century as mine owners replaced the “free” minors (many who have migrated from coal mining towns in Whales) with convicts. In two areas of Tennessee, free minors “freed” the convicts who were held in labor camps at the mines, put them on a train, and sent them to Nashville or Knoxville. The Governor then sent in the National Guard and the wars were on. A great story you should consider.
Thanks for the reminder. We actually did a podcast episode on the Coal Creek war, about a year and a half ago, I believe. That labor unrest was a bit different from most in Appalachia in that it didn’t involve the establishment of a union or the hiring of cheaper scab workers in the event of a strike; instead it was about the use of unpaid forced labor instead.