Below are a list of books that cover Blair Mountain or contextual events. Some of them we have found to be highly useful for academic scholarship, while others have fallen short. We hope you read as many as possible and make up your own mind, and along the way discover the extremely rich and colorful history of Blair Mountain and the people of central Appalachia.
WHEN MINERS MARCH (1952/2010)
William C. Blizzard
The primary resource for Blair Mountain researchers and enthusiasts is William C. Blizzard’s ‘When Miners March’. William was the son of Bill Blizzard, the main leader of the miners’ insurrection. Written anonymously for a labor periodical in the 1950s, this extraordinary resource was rediscovered and republished by former UMWA miner and prominent labor historian Wess Harris.
The combination of William C. Blizzard’s bare-
knuckle expository style, his penetrating analysis,
insider’s view, and rigorous research makes this
the foundational text for any research on Blair
Mountain.
And by the way, Wess has just edited the latest release of this classic for PM PRESS (see the cover above). He did not change William C. Blizzard’s original text but added some previously unseen color pics and other treats. Contact him at (flatridge@hughes.net) or go to the website to buy your copy today!
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LIFE, WORK AND REBELLION IN THE COALFIELDS (1989)
David Alan Corbin
Another fundamental text regarding Blair Mountain and
the West Virginia Mine Wars, this work is based on solid
research on primary documents. With this work, Corbin
shifted the narrative of the West Virginia Mine Wars from
being explained by stereotypical accounts of an inherently
violent mountain culture to one that exposed the brutality
and violence of the coal operators against mining communities.
In this, Corbin places the root cause of the battle on the
economic, social and political oppression of the miners.
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CIVIL WAR IN WEST VIRGINIA (1921)
Winthrop Lane
(1921)
Winthrop Lane
This book is written by a noted journalist of the day who spent quite a bit of time in the coalfields covering the industrial conflicts there. It is a class work, and an artifact in itself in that an eyewitness to the event wrote it as it was occurring. You can download the high-quality PDF below for free, or click here to buy the book.
Civil War in West Virginia (PDF download)
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THE WEST VIRGINIA MINE WARS: AN ANTHOLOGY
David Alan Corbin (Editor)
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THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS: THE WEST VIRGINIA MINE WAR, 1920-21
Lon Savage
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ABSENTEE LANDOWNING AND EXPLOITATION IN WEST VIRGINIA, 1760-1920 (1994)
Barbara Rasmussen
Written by a central participant in the Blair Mountain preservation struggle, this scholarly work by Dr. Barbara Rasmussen provides the underlying context for the conditions of poverty and exploitation in West Virginia. Absentee land ownership is still a major problem in central Appalachia, and so this book not only rigorously researches historical processes but also provides answers for social issues today. This book is a must for those wanting to understand the deep systemic structures that contextualized the Battle of Blair Mountain, then and today.
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MATEWAN BEFORE THE MASSACRE
Rebecca Bailey
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STORMING HEAVEN (1988)
Denise Giardinia
While this is a fictional novel, it is a historical story that is well-researched and better representative of the realities and complexities of life in the coalfields than many scholarly works. We highly recommend this novel because it gives a sense of the humanity – the loves, hopes, greed, struggle, despair and triumph – of the mining communities during the period of social transformation and unrest in the coalfields that resulted in the Battle of Blair Mountain.
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King Coal: a pictorial heritage of West Virginia coal mining
Stan Cohen
This is a book of photographs covering the early days of coal mining in West Virgina. It has some rarely seen photographs, and so is a good source for images.
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THE BATTLE OF BLAIR MOUNTAIN (2004)
Robert Shogan
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VIDEO
 Hillbilly: The Real Story
A History Channel original documentary As this wide-ranging documentary makes clear, the disparaging label “hillbilly” should actually be worn with pride. Join host Billy Ray Cyrus on a journey into the hollers and runs of Appalachia to discover the proud legacy of the region’s mountain folk. Learn how hillbillies, long misunderstood and maligned as isolated and backward, actually have a 300-year history of achievement and success that has contributed significantly to our national identity. |
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Razing Appalachia Produced and directed by Sasha Waters A documentary that explores the controversial issue of mountaintop removal mining by following a grassroots fight to stop the process in West Virginia. The movie contains a significant section on the Battle for Blair Mountain. |
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 Matewan
Written and Directed by John Sayles An American drama made in 1987 that illustrates the events of a coal mine-workers’ strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. The events at Matewan lead up to the eventual Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. The film stars Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, David Strathairn, Kevin Tighe, Will Oldham, and Jace Alexander. |
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Although a novel, Denise Giardina’s STORMING HEAVEN is a wonderful work that is closer to truth than many claiming to be “non-fiction”.
Folks wanting to understand the reasons for the intensity of Blair Mountain and other early battles need to visit the Whipple Company Store(May till November) and ask for the Bible story…