The past few months have been pretty exciting. As you all know from my last update, I made some visits to the Library of Congress, the WV State Archives and the Whipple Store to conduct research. As a result of all those hours listening to compelling recordings and digging up old songs in manuscripts I am happy to declare that Blair Pathways now has a working song list for the CD! The collection totals about 23 songs and instrumentals that reflect the diverse experiences of mining and striking in Southern West Virginia. These songs come from women and men who were bards, organizers, workers and slaves. They brought their immediate musical experience from places like Italy, Hungary, the sharecropping fields of Georgia and the Appalachian mountains. We would like to share with you a sampling of the songs Blair Pathways hopes to utilize.
The history of modern mining in West Virginia stretches back to 1817, when coal was discovered by white colonizers in the Kanawha Valley. Thereafter, coal became a central heat fuel source for salt works along the Kanawha River. About ¼ of African-American slaves living in the area were loaned out to work in these coal mines. Black slavery’s connection to coal mining in America is often overlooked, but the Blair Pathways narrative would not be complete without commemorating its history in West Virginia. We hope to use a traditional black spiritual from WV called, “Lord I Don’t Want to Die in the Storm” recorded in the mid-20th century by collector Cortez D. Reece. The song uses the storm as a metaphor for the harsh trials of life and laments how so many relatives and loved ones are lost in its turbulence:
“Lord my mother she died in the storm
Lord my mother she died in the storm
Let the winds blow east, let the winds blow west
Lord I don’t want to die in the storm.”
After the Civil War and emancipation, thousands of African-Americans from the deep south moved into the southern WV coal fields to find work, making West Virginia one of the only geographically-southern states to see an increase in black populations.
West Virginia grew to be a formidable producer of bituminous coal, and an intense competitor against other coal producing states in the mid-West. After the success of a nation-wide strike in 1897, the United Mine Workers union (or UMWA) declared intentions to organize the southern West Virginia coal fields. But counties like Mingo, Kanawha, Logan and McDowell showed especial indifference and resistance to being organized, and union campaigners repeatedly left the coal fields bitter and, at worst, in caskets. The United Four Quartet, an early close-harmony gospel group recorded in Barrackville, WV reflects the attitudes of many UMWA organizers of the late 19th century in a song called, “I Don’t Want to Go Down Yonder:”
“Ain’t no unions down yonder, Lord;
I don’t want to go, Lord
No unions down yonder.
I don’t want to go, Lord;
No unions down yonder
I don’t want to go, Lord,
I don’t want to go, Lord,
I don’t want to go down there.”
Though recorded in 1940, this song still catches the frustration of many during decades of organizing in Southern West Virginia.
Though many miners in Southern West Virginia did not have immediate concerns about better pay and shorter working hours (the main platforms of the UMWA) they did, however, take issue with the coal company’s usage of mine guards and spies, especially the Baldwin-Felts agents from Bluefield. The Felts agents were notorious for their cruelty, and when Paint Creek miners struck in 1912, one of their main demands was abolition of the mine guard system. A site of much conflict during this period was the striker’s camp at Holly Grove, which sat along train tracks leading to the town of Mucklow. In February of 1913, an armored train filled with Felts guards and other militia shot into the tent colony in the middle of the night, killing father and striker Cesco Estep. Walter Seacrist, known to many as one of West Virginia’s most famous “union balladeers” wrote a ballad for Clifford Estep, Cesco’s son who was a toddler at the time of his father’s death. Utilizing Clifford’s perspective, Seacrist graphically recalls Cesco’s death:
“My daddy heard the shooting and rushed us from our bed
And a few moments later he was found dead.
While trying to get us to safety and find for us a place
An explosive rifle bullet had torn away his face.
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Don’t weep for me or mother, although you might feel bad,
Just try to help keep alive some other boy’s dad.
And when we meet in heaven, on that golden strand,
Then you can see my daddy and clasp his blessed hand.”
The strike was forcibly ended in 1913 by newly-elected WV governor Henry D. Hatfield. Though many of the miner’s demands were met, the struggle had resulted in the deaths of over 50 strikers and their families as a result of battle, malnutrition and exposure.
The southern coal fields of WV did not witness another strike until just after the end of WWI, when the UMWA called a national strike to renew its contracts. While the Battle at Blair Mountain in 1921 is the most well known march from the region, a march involving at least 3,000 miners occurred in 1919, though it was dissipated early on by false promises made by Governor Cornwell to investigate the corrupt practices of the coal companies. A song written by John C. Brown in 1913 reflects the convictions of these miners as they emerged from the mines to demand dignified treatment and pay:
“Two miles we come from the dungeon deep,
Where for aeons we have toiled in vain,
We have kneaded the force that moves the world
And you have branded our lot with shame.
Two miles we have come as the ages run,
We have come to present our claim;
Your mining royalties we measure now
By the blood of our brothers slain.”
Many of the miners ready to march were WWI vets, and their attitudes were summed up by one miner who told the governor, “We found conditions worse here (in the coal fields) than back in France.” These sentiments and others encouraged mining families to continue to strike and fight for their freedoms for two more years, their struggles culminating with the Battle of Blair Mountain in August of 1921.
Understanding what happened at Blair means understanding southern West Virginia’s long history of mining and its many decades of labor struggle, and these four songs are just a sample of the collection that will be presented on the CD. Each song is a primary source reflecting individual and collective experiences that in many cases have been long forgotten. Blair Pathways is excited to bring these songs and their history back to life after so many years.
We are currently contacting artists for our songs and will soon start featuring profiles on our committed musicians on our website. Blair Pathways is committed to ensure that our musicians do not have to worry about financial costs to the project, and so we very much appreciate any monetary support from fans like you. Check donations can be sent to Sara Lynch-Thomason, 36 Longview Rd, Asheville, NC 28806.
In Song and Solidarity,
Saro Lynch-Thomason
Download the CD on Bandcamp below!
