Why do they call Harlan Kentucky Bloody Harlan?
Bloody Harlan. The name comes from the nearly century-long and sometimes violent struggle between coal companies and workers seeking to unionize. Harlan miners started to organize in the 1920s, a struggle that culminated in a long and violent strike in 1931.
What happened to Billy C Bruner?
A spokesman for the Harlan Appalachian Regional Hospital said Mr. Bruner, who was shot with a pistol, was “not nearly as badly hurt as Mr. Jones.” Bernie Aronson, assistant to the president of the U.M.W., said the shooting took place at about 5:30 P.M. at Jones Creek, near Verda, Ky.
What happened to coal mining in Kentucky?
Kentucky coal production decreased in 2016 by 29.9 percent from 2015, to 42.9 million tons, a level of production not seen since 1922. Eastern Kentucky coal production decreased in 2016 by 39 percent from 2015 to 17 million tons. Production slowed at both underground and surface mines.
What happened in Harlan Kentucky?
The Harlan County War, or Bloody Harlan, was a series of coal mining-related skirmishes, executions, bombings, and strikes (both attempted and realized) that took place in Harlan County, Kentucky, during the 1930s.
How many people died in the Farmington mine Disaster?
78
Farmington Mine disaster/Number of deaths
Do they still mine coal in Harlan County Kentucky?
There are no longer any unionized mines in Kentucky, but Harlan’s miners are currently continuing the region’s legacy of labor struggles against wealthy and powerful coal corporations: they are blocking the coal trains from leaving a mine that laid them off.
Who killed Lawrence Jones Harlan County?
Billy C. Bruner
On 24 August 1974 a mine supervisor named Billy C. Bruner shot and killed a 23-year-old striker, Lawrence D. Jones. The death shocked the community and received widespread attention throughout the nation.
Where was the Brookside Mine?
Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the “Brookside Strike”, a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company’s Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky.
How many coal mines are left in Kentucky?
Since the first commercial coal mine opened in 1820 coal has gained both economic importance and controversy regarding its environmental consequences. As of 2010 there were 442 operating coal mines in the state, and as of 2017 there were fewer than 4,000 underground coalminers.
What caused the Farmington Mine Disaster?
For 40 years, it has been a mystery why 78 men died in a mine explosion in Farmington, W.Va. At the time, federal officials said they didn’t know. But several months after the explosion, a federal investigator discovered one possible explanation — a safety alarm on a ventilation fan had been deliberately disabled.
Where was the coal mine explosion in Kentucky?
Historical Marker #2579 in Clay, Kentucky recognizes the catastrophic explosion in the Western Kentucky Coal Company’s mine No.7 at about 7:40 AM on August 4th, 1917.
What was the cause of the coal mine explosion in 1917?
The violence led to martial law being enforced in Clay during the weeks leading up to the No. 7 mine disaster. The concern of violence was so robust, that in the earliest reports of the explosion, journalists of the Hopkinsville Kentuckian suspected the explosion was due to someone tampering with wires in the mine.
How many people died in the coal mine explosion?
Those who stayed, however, continued to work in mines such as mine No.7. With so many strike breakers present during the explosion it is important to note that of the 62 deceased, 51 were Black. After the explosion in mine No. 7, the strike was called off by the National headquarters of the United Mine Workers.
Where was the diamond mine explosion in 1917?
The Louisville Courier Journal reported that on August 3, 1917, three union miners were arrested in Clay by soldiers of Company C, Kentucky National Guard after firing “several hundred shots” at soldiers guarding Diamond mine near Providence, Kentucky.