Online event commemorates 100th anniversary of 1921 Blair Mountain labor fight

It’s been called the biggest battle on U.S. soil since the Civil War and it’s hard to believe it happened in 20th Century America.

In the summer of 1921, a series of escalating skirmishes between coal miners and mine operators led to the “Battle of Blair Mountain.” It pitted some 7,000 armed miners against 3,000 lawmen and strikebreakers disrupting the miners’ attempt to unionize West Virginia coalfields. And it involved plans by President Warren G. Harding to use U.S. military planes to attack American civilians with bombs and machine guns.

Though things did not work out well for the miners, the battle raised awareness of the deplorable conditions miners faced across the country. A decade later it helped inspire a larger and stronger labor movement in the U.S.

On Aug. 19 the Battle of Homestead Foundation will mark the 100^th anniversary of this unsavory event with an online panel discussion entitled “Battle of Blair Mountain, 1921…What It Means for Working People in 2021.” It’s a prelude to the battle’s official centennial commemoration from Sept. 3-6.

“The story of Blair Mountain pulls back a dark curtain on an important part of American history most of us haven’t heard about,” said Battle of Homestead president John Haer. “Our panelists will provide insights for working people today faced by many of the same labor grievances and corporate abuses that sparked the original ‘Battle of Blair Mountain’ in 1921.”

The panel discussion will be moderated by Point Park University graduate Phil Smith, director of communications and governmental affairs for the United Mine Workers of America. The panelists are history professor Chuck Keeney, NPR radio producer Catherine Moore, author Shaun Slifer and longtime black lung movement chronicler Barbara Ellen Smith.

The program is free and attendees can register here to receive a Zoom admission link.