Gerald D. Swick's Blog

The battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia, September 1-2, 1921, pitted 10,000 striking miners against mine operators' hired guns and ordinary citizens who saw the strikers as a threat to America.

An August 18, 1920, suffragist celebration in Fairmont, W.Va., reflected nationwide jubilation after Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment, providing women the right to vote.

West Virginia’s vote to ratify the 19th Amendment is a story worthy of Hollywood, with political machinations, a cross-country race, and a vacant Senate seat.

During a time of ennobling the Lost Cause some Southerners wanted the Confederate battle flag incorporated into the American flag.

Easter Sunday 1902 began and ended under sunny skies in West Virginia, but in between storms brought tragedy to a church service in Wellsburg.

Nancy Hart, a six-foot, muscular, crossed-eyed Georgian, proved in the American Revolution she was no one to trifle with.

West Virginians who took part in the D-Day invasion included paratroopers, Rangers, riflemen, medics, and shipboard personnel; 38 men from the Mountain State died that day.

As the "Greatest Generation" fades away, some thoughts on the passing of the last Civil War veterans decades earlier.

In WW2 a small dog named Yappy pulled rubber balls from the Harlem River for America's war effort.

The border between the United States and Mexico has long been a matter of concern for both countries.