The Mine Wars: The Bloody Fight for Workers' Rights in the West Virginia Coalfields

by Steve Watkins

Bloomsbury presents The Mine Wars by Steve Watkins, read by Will Tulin.

For fans of Steve Sheinkin and Deb Heiligman, a riveting true story of the West Virginia coal miners who ignited the largest labor uprising in American history.

In May of 1920, in a small town in the mountains of West Virginia, a dozen coal miners took a stand. They were sick of the low pay in the mines. The unsafe conditions. The brutal treatment they endured from mine owners and operators. The scrip they were paid—instead of cash—that could only be used at the company store.

They had tried to unionize, but the mine owners dug in. On that fateful day in May 1920, tensions boiled over and a gunfight erupted—beginning a yearlong standoff between workers and owners.

The miners pleaded, then protested, then went on strike; the owners retaliated with spying, bribery, and threats. Violence escalated on both sides, culminating in the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in United States history.

In this gripping narrative nonfiction book, meet the resolute and spirited people who fought for the rights of coal miners, and discover how the West Virginia Mine Wars paved the way for vital worker protections nationwide. More than a century later, this overlooked story of the labor movement remains urgently relevant.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, American History, Historical, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

Steve Watkins is the author of the young adult novels Stolen by Night, On Blood Road, Juvie, What Comes After, and Great Falls, as well as the middle-grade novels Down Sand Mountain, Sink or Swim, and the Ghosts of War series, including The Secret of Midway, Lost at Khe Sanh, AWOL in North Africa, and Fallen in Fredericksburg.

A former professor of journalism, creative writing, and Vietnam War literature, Steve is the cofounder and editor of Pie & Chai, a monthly magazine that you can find and read online at pieandchaimagazine.com.

Reviews

[Jade Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this what I typically Read? No. Why did I pick it? Idk, sounded interesting. Did I like it? Yes.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“God does not walk in these hills....The devil is here in these hills, and the devil is greed.”

As a West Virginian, I have heard of the Mine Wars but like most people, I never learned about it in school because it was not a topic that is taught. If you read this book you will learn that after the Mine Wars the WV business leaders forced a group called American Constitutional Association that basically released propaganda to try and change West Virginians perspectives, this involved influencing textbooks in schools that never discussed the coal miners strike, unions, the Battle at Blair Mountain, and provided a false image of what life for coal miners actually like. Clearly the propaganda worked since in the 1990s and 2000s I still wasn’t learning about an important part of my state's history.

While this is geared towards young adults, I think this was a great book for adults to learn about this topic as well. LIke I said, I learned about the Mine Wars as an adult, but I didn’t know the full story, mostly just that it happened and why it was being fought. This book was a great book for me because it was easy to read, gave the full story without going too into the weeds with it, and provided great photographs and quotes. I planned on reading this over a few days but basically binged it in two sittings because it was so fascinating and easy to get through.

If you are interested in the Mine Wars, I highly recommend this book, especially if you are relatively new to the topic. I now want to dig deeper into my state's history around the Mine Wars, Mother Jones, and coal history.

TW: death, grief, gun violence, physical violence, imprisonment, corruption, starvation, child death

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew absolutely nothing about this historical event and it is a shame that this isn't more well known. A lot of it reverberated and created modern labor laws. A really interesting look at how those in power create the narrative and can hide information - or create disinformation.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew I needed to know about workers rights in the mines of West Virginia? Watkins did and he did a bang-up job of keeping it spicy all the way through. It's an unknown history in the way that the Tulsa Race Massacre was unknown history for so long-- people don't like to be painted in a bad light and the fight for unionized work by mine workers led to a lot of gunbattles, courtroom drama, and deaths just by working in the mines- an insurmountable loss that needs to be discussed more.

Discussed in context to labor unions and labor laws, the land and way of life in places like West Virginia, and the names and players who stood out on both sides of this battle. It's a dark part of American history but one that shifted unions and labor fights while still being a dangerous occupation that men were willing to fight for.

Watkins narrative style was clipped and focused, railroading readers with an obscene amount of information that a reader wanted to care about. I was also astounded by the volume of photographs from the time that survive in the archives.

An absolutely worthy read.

And I love Mother Jones' quote "Get it straight. I'm not a humanitarian. I'm a hell-raiser."

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was in school, we learned some of the history about labor unions, and remember there was mention of the West Virginia mine workers. This is a well-written and researched, easy-to-understand, book about the West Virginia coal miners, and what they dealt with on a daily basis. They had to live in company housing and shop in company stores. Why? Because the mine owners paid them in scrip, not cash, and had to pay outrageous prices. The mine owners had the mine workers working long hours, low pay, and workers did not have a choice, if they wanted a job. When the mine workers tried to unionize, this is when things got dicey. Lots of details and pictures included that makes it come alive even more. Another great book by Mr. Watkins! I have read quite a few of his books, and never disappointed.

[R. Condon]

When you think of West Virginia, what first comes to mind? For many people, it’s coal. Coal mining is a brutal business today, and it was exponentially more so back in the 1920s. Miners would work in conditions that often proved deadly, were paid a tiny amount for one of the most lucrative businesses in America, forced to live in company ‘towns’ (with housing, school, and stores that accepted the script the miners were paid in), and beaten bloody by mine guards if they even considered joining a union.
Watkins sheds light on an often (and quite deliberately) omitted chapter of West Virginian—and American—history: the Battle of Blair Mountain. Here, the events leading up to the violent uprising and the resulting fall-out are told in language that younger readers will find approachable.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is the demand to be paid wages in legal tender (not company scrip) an unreasonable request? Is it so unreasonable to ask that a job be made safer from death and injury than the trenches of WWI? A history of the often-violent fight for worker rights and unionization in the West Virginia coal country that still isn't covered in history books (in part because of the concerted effort of the coal companies). We may complain about our jobs now, but man, we have it good. This is a good companion to "Hillbilly Elegy" or "Demon Copperhead" - even though it is aimed at teens - in its exploration of the history of a painfully poor area of the country.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, wonderfully detailed history of one of the lost civil wars of U.S. history. The TL;DR is that the Federal government sent in troops to suppress southern West Virginia coal miners and stop them from striking, in the name of "pacifying" an unruly mob, when in fact the corrupt mine owners and their private army of vicious thugs had been the unruly ones from the get-go. This is a critically important episode in labor history that has deep ramifications to this day. It's also a hell of a colorful story full of weird scoundrels and deeply flawed heros (e.g., Mother Jones) in conflict with each other.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was eye-opening for me because I had never heard about the Blair Mountain Massacre. It is amazing how much of America’s history has been hidden from its people, The violence that erupted over the right of a miner to work in a safe environment, be paid a fair wage, have decent housing and healthcare for his family is repeated over and over again with only the “class or color” of the workers changing. My heart grieves for a system that values money over humanity; greed over compassion and power over brotherly love.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mine Wars: The Bloody Fight for Workers' Rights in the West Virginia Coalfields by Steve Watkins was an interesting listen. I was not familiar with most of the people involved. This lent a hand to all workers' rights that we see today. The jobs in the Mines were not for the faint at heart, and did not have positive outcomes during or later in life for these workers. I enjoy a nonfiction read every month on a topic that is not familiar to me and this one fit the bill.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altho written for a young adult reader, this is a somewhat complicated retelling of the West Virginia mine wars. Good book to make the realization that company bosses were abusing and neglecting the mine workers, particularly in West Virginia.

[Kelli Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my typical read but I’m glad I did. I had heard bits and pieces of this history. It was eye opening to just how crooked the coal operators were and how in bed with the government they were. So many parallels to now.

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really interesting read. I definitely did not know that much about West Virginia coal mining. It included pictures of the people involved. I definitely recommend if you are interested in union history or American history.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived in WV from the time I was in 3rd grade until I was 20 years old and had never heard of these wars and the fight for mine workers. Phenomenal historical description that opens your eyes.

[Kevin Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history on the US labor struggle a hundred years ago and a reminder as to why it’s important to keep those laws.

[Red · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Quick and concise. Covers a interesting piece of American history and it was cool to see what changed after this. Nuts that a company could control someone's life like that.

[Jennifer Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, short read compared to many nonfiction books. I ate it up in a couple of days, and enjoyed it. More people should be aware of this kind of history as well, lest we forget it.