The Road to Blair Mountain: Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

by Charles B. Keeney

“Keeney delivers a riveting and propulsive story about a nine-year battle to save sacred ground that was the site of the largest labor uprising in American history. . . . He unveils a powerful playbook on successful activism that will inspire countless others for generations to come.” —Eric Eyre, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Death in Mud A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic

In 1921 Blair Mountain in southern West Virginia was the site of the country’s bloodiest armed insurrection since the Civil War, a battle pitting miners led by Frank Keeney against agents of the coal barons intent on quashing organized labor. It was the largest labor uprising in US history. Ninety years later, the site became embroiled in a second struggle, as activists came together to fight the coal industry, state government, and the military- industrial complex in a successful effort to save the battlefield—sometimes dubbed “labor’s Gettysburg”—from destruction by mountaintop removal mining.

The Road to Blair Mountain is the moving and sometimes harrowing story of Charles Keeney’s fight to save this irreplaceable landscape. Beginning in 2011, Keeney—a historian and great-grandson of Frank Keeney—led a nine-year legal battle to secure the site’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places. His book tells a David-and-Goliath tale worthy of its own place in West Virginia history. A success story for historic preservation and environmentalism, it serves as an example of how rural, grassroots organizations can defeat the fossil fuel industry.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Labor

327 pages, Paperback

Published December 21, 2020

Reviews

[jess ~has abandoned GR~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have honest-to-goodness read just about anything I could get my hands on -- books, articles, research, etc. -- about the West Virginia Mine Wars because I find it fascinating. I come from coal miners on both sides, and staunch unionists on my dad's, and am a bit of a labor history buff, so this sort of thing shows up hard on my radar.

Before reading this book, do at least some light Googling on the Battle of Blair Mountain. You need to know why it matters so much that the battleground be studied and preserved and why this history must be uncovered and taught. Professor Keeney discusses this a bit, but I'm not sure how strongly this book will land for someone totally unfamiliar with Blair Mountain.

I remember when the events of this book were going on beginning in 2011 and how I so wanted to be involved. Alas, I was in grad school and working about a hundred part time jobs, so traveling there was not an option. But I was watching, admiring. And now I get to read about what was going on and the tough decisions that had to be made.

This is overall a fascinating read about political maneuvering in a state that is so deeply entrenched in corporatocracy in which "King Coal" has bought everything up, including the hearts and minds of those it exploits the most.

[Caleb Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I recall hearing anything about coal mining culture was around 1995 on the Uncle Tupelo record MARCH 16-20, 1992. There were two songs that covered the plight of coal miners: “Shaky Ground” and “Coalminers” (which was an other traditional tune passed down through ages). I was pretty mesmerized and recall trying to get any additional information I could about the history being sung about in these songs. I had friends whose fathers mined coal down around Beckley WV, and when our family would take vacations in southwest Virginia, there were more than a few coal miners (active deep miners, surface miners, and some retired from the old days). From these men I learned about Black lung, the thirty-six inch hole, black damp, kettle bottoms, and union carbide lamps. But never Blair Mountain.

The internet barley existed in the mid 90s and despite my raising in Appalachia (PA) my proximity to WV was the eastern panhandle just 30 minutes from my homeplace - and hardly coal country. I tried to learn more about this cuktife through music (lots of bluegrass...and the Steve Earle song “The Mountain” was pretty influential). It wouldn’t be til 2001 when I moved to Huntington WV to attend Marshall University - and had access to both the Marshall and Cabell County Libraries that I hit a treasure trove of coal mining history. One of the books I read was Robert Shogan’s The Battle Of Blair Mountain: America’s Largest Labor Uprising. I immersed myself in this history and have not yet stopped.

I discovered Charles Belmont Keeney in a random tweet about the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum - and recognizing the surname as that of the UMWA District 17 president Frank Keeney, I dug a little deeper. In so doing, I learned about “The Road to Blair Mountain”.

Whereas the armed miners in the 1920s were scaling Blair Mountain to fight for the right to unionize, Charles Belmont Keeney’s fight is about historical and environmental preservation of the site where his great grandfather staged America’s largest labor uprising - which was at risk of being strip-mined by Big Coal.

Keeney articulates a years-long campaign that involved coalition building between local advocates, national environmental groups, and historical preservation societies who navigate a web of Coal Company influence and government red tape. One of the highlights of the book is at the end where Keeney uses his own version of “bullets” to list out the steps taken in their advocacy efforts so future advocates have a road map.

Indeed, I was so impressed with this story that I’ve decided to adopt this memoir as required reading for my Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy doctoral class for the spring 2021 semester (and perhaps beyond). The advocacy methods outlined in “The Road To Blair Mountain” are a perfect illustration of what our standard textbook teaches.

Even if my students aren’t wowed by the story or the culture, there will be at least ~20 more folks who will probably learn about the Battle of Blair Mountain for the first time in their lives.

[Margaret Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating tale of the campaign to save the Blair Mountain Battlefield, a battle that most U.S.ers have never heard of. In 1921, in the coal camps of West Virginia, a miners' rebellion was organized and brutally put down by the coal operators, law enforcement and the federal government. I had first learned about the Mine Wars from John Sayles' film Matewan and Denise Giardina's moving book Storming Heaven. This memoir, written by the great-grandson of one of the union leaders at the Battle of Blair Mountain, tells in great detail how and why the coal companies have tried to suppress the history of Blair Mountain for a century, and how the historians and activists were able to, in the end, preserve the battlefield and get a wider audience for the history. This was despite the coal companies' continued control of West Virginia politics and all the supposedly neutral state agencies.

[Scott Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book. I have never heard of the Mine Wars before this book, which isn't surprising given how much "King Coal" has done to suppress it. It was interesting to read a local West Virginian's perspective on the coal industry and how it affects daily life and the political sphere as well.

Some of the nitty-gritty deals and legalese Keeney uses to explain scenarios become a bit dry.

[Ry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important history indeed.
But for me- the writing itself was kinda lame…

[Brie Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

had to read for school. was interesting enough and didn’t hate it 3.75⭐️

[Charles Halbrook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish this story was more about the Blair Mountain Wars and less about the author.

[Spenser Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, insightful story about the state of West Virginia and the US as a whole.

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at historical preservation in the face of corporate giants. Additionally, it is written by the grandson of one of the major union players in the Blair Mountain battle!