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Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

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West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum was founded in 2015 and is located in Historic Matewan.
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05/14/2026

✨ NEW IN THE SHOP: Fight to Win! by Kim Kelly✨

"The revelatory history of the American labor movement, from independent journalist and Teen Vogue labor columnist Kim Kelly, now in a young readers edition!

The history of American labor is full of incredible leaders, organizers, and workers, but not all of them have gotten the recognition they deserve."

The book explores the valuable contributions of organizers like Rosina Tucker, Maria Moreno, Ah Quon McElrath and more. ⛏

"With blood, sweat, and tears, they fought to win the rights we hold so dear today.
Their voices reveal the true history of American labor."

Get your copy here: https://wvminewars.org/shop

05/13/2026

The Matewan Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc has a great slate of events planned for Heritage Day this Saturday in the Town of Matewan, WV!

The day kicks off at 11am with the re-grand opening of the newly renovated and ADA accessible Matewan Depot replica, followed by a reenactment of Battle of Matewan. To close out the day we will have have Songs & Stories WV in the Matewan Community Center inside the Museum.

Hope to see you there!

05/12/2026

Although the word has many claimed origins in the United States, the slang term “redneck” crystallized in the militant labor union movement in the central Appalachian coal fields at the turn of the 20th century. Specifically, the red bandana became a physical symbol of solidarity within the multi-ethnic striking coal miners on the 1921 armed march that erupted into open conflict on Blair Mountain (Logan County, West Virginia) in August of that year.

As an act of visual solidarity, and as a critical battlefield signifier, these striking miners donned commonly-available red bandanas around their necks.

The miners who had finally picked up weapons to fight for their basic human rights were called “rednecks” because of the bandanas they wore, and they would shot at, gassed, and bombed from private airplanes until the US Army arrived to defuse the war.

Through the decades, the term has been used derogatorily just as the coal operators who sought to crush the spirit of the working man intended. At the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum we work to reclaim a narrative about the people of Appalachia. In these mountains, thousands have banded together across race, culture, and gender in fights for better working conditions and a brighter future.

Learn more about the history of the red bandana here: https://youtu.be/WRIjxAnuQjM?si=rL-zL9OlsUVTq-bU

05/11/2026

✨Jackrocks!✨

“Jackrock” is the casual term from the US labor movement that refers to what are historically known as “caltrops.” These were defensive weapons thrown on the ground, road, or floor that served to slow the advance of people, horses, etc. In modern times, they are particularly effective when used on paved roads against wheeled vehicles. These have been used exclusively by the union side of militant strikes and pickets, thrown on the road to sabotage the vehicles of non-union “scab” workers and/or management.

New to our collection, these three “jackrocks” are all homemade in Appalachia from steel nails and rebar, welded together and bent so that one sharp point is always up.

05/09/2026

"The Dust" by photographer Raymond Thompson Jr. revisits the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel Disaster of the early 1930s, where an estimated 764 workers—primarily African American migrants—died from acute silicosis after drilling through silica-rich rock without protection.

Thompson reimagines this industrial tragedy bringing long-buried truths to light and centering Black laborers whose stories have been historically erased. His work invites viewers to reckon with the racialized dimensions of industrial sacrifice and the costs of economic ambition.

You can see more images from this series alongside the work of Earl Dotter and Stacy Krantiz in Entirely Preventable: The Toxic Legacy of Silica Dust from Hawks Nest to Black Lung, the current exhibition inside the Museum's Solidarity Gallery.

Learn more: https://wvminewars.org/solidarity-gallery

05/08/2026

MARTYRS OF THE MINE WARS

During the tenure of UMWA District 17 President Bill Blizzard, four identical plaques were created to honor those who had died for the cause during the Mine Wars.

During that time (1945-1955) four “martyr” plaques were issued for Cesco Estep, Clive Woodrum, Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers. We look into the lives of these men and consider the term “martyr” and who gets bestowed that title.

Read more: wvminewars.org/news/martyrs-of-the-mine-wars

05/07/2026

The 2026 Monument Lab Summit is underway! Our Executive Director Kenzie New Walker is speaking on a panel titled, “Learning From Collective Struggle: Labor, Care, and Survival as Monumental Knowledge” alongside Aubree Penney, Jaclyn Reyes, and Amy Sazue.

Here’s the session description:
What do monuments teach when they are built from struggle, care, and survival? This session brings together three community-centered monument projects that honor collective action—from labor organizing in the Appalachian coalfields, to care work in Little Manila, to Indigenous remembrance and land reclamation in the Black Hills. Through photography, oral histories, ritual, and site-based design, these projects model monument-making as a long-term learning process—one rooted in solidarity, healing, and the shared responsibility to remember together. The session also highlights how Monument Lab’s Re:Generation initiative supports communities in reclaiming suppressed histories, engaging participants in collaborative design, and shaping new practices for public memory.

Over the course of the entire summit, Monument Lab is gathering artists, organizers, scholars, and civic and cultural workers from across the country for learning, dialogue, and play guided by the theme “School of Monumaking.” Together, we’ll explore ideas, tools, and practices that deepen kinship and belonging in our communities.

05/06/2026

THE SENSELESS MASSACRE THAT WAS A PRECURSOR FOR BLOODIER TIMES AHEAD

This photo shows pro-union miners pointing to bullet holes after a bloody ambush in Raleigh County.

In June of 1902 a massive state-wide strike saw roughly 16,000 West Virginia miners walk out in a show of solidarity with anthracite miners in Pennsylvania while demanding their own rights, including a nine-hour day and the right to trade at non-company stores.

Miners in the Kanawha field would eventually negotiate a contract; those in the New River field were met with a stalemate as operators refused to work with the laborers.

Coal operator Justus Collins said he would rather all of his mines close than to “allow the union to control his business.” He hired Baldwin-Felts agents as enforcement.

Thousands of families were thrown out of company-owned homes into the winter cold, forcing the union to establish tent colonies on whatever "free ground" they could find.

The conflict culminated at Stanaford Mountain in June 1903. As a faction of striking miners slept in cabins with their families, a group of police and Baldwin-Felts agents shot into the workers’ homes killing six men—three of them Black.

The brutality at Stanaford became a major reason Mother Jones began to call the state "Medieval West Virginia."

The massacre ended the strike in the New River field, but lived on in the minds of those who fought during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strikes a decade later as well as the Miner’s March in 1921.

05/05/2026

The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum's labor heritage trail, Courage in the Hollers, is expanding and we want your input on how to tell the story of the Mine Wars in your community.

Courage in the Hollers shines a light on this hidden history of the coalfields through a mix of large steel sculptures, murals, interpretive signage, and interactive audio experiences—developed through an inclusive, community-informed process.

These works will honor the contributions that unionist miners made to American history, focusing on the route of the Miner’s March to Blair Mountain in the summer of 1921.

If this history is part of your family’s legacy, or of interest to you in any way, please plan to join us in your community.

Learn more about the project at wvminewars.org/courage

05/04/2026

🎥🎬🎞️ If this jacket were for sale online, it would be “vintage”, but since it’s newly a part of our collection, it’s an artifact! This Dickies blanket-lined denim chore coat was custom embroidered on the back with the logo of Red Dog Films, the independent production company used by filmmaker John Sayles for his acclaimed 1987 historical drama Matewan. Produced by Maggie Renzi and Peggy Rajski, Matewan (which was actually filmed in Thurmond, WV) shows several successful actors at early points in their careers. James Earl Jones, Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, Mary Mcdonnell, Kevin Tighe, and even the musician Will Oldham star in the film. But Sayles and his team also used loads of local folks as extras in the film. Were you one of the extras or bit parts in Matewan, or do you know someone who was? Sound off in the comments!!

05/02/2026

THIS MONTH IN MINE WARS HISTORY: HOLLY GROVE ⛏📜⛺

1912: One month into the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, Baldwin-Felts Detectives arrive at the strike zone. Mine guards evict the striking miners in Paint Creek. These miners and their families form a tent colony at Holly Grove, where the coal company did not own the land, with the support of the UMWA.

Hundreds would reside in these canvas tents, in a multicultural, in*******al makeshift community. They established a large mess tent for community cooking and would often gather to sing, dance, and play instruments like the violin and banjo.

Under constant threat of attack, the miners created dugouts into the hillsides where women and children could retreat when the colony came under fire. Baldwin-Felts Agents and coal operators would subject the community to attacks, killing two men in separate incidents and wounding others.

The miners demanded the right to unionize, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to hire a check-weigh man, to be paid in U.S. currency, and the abolition of mine guards and while on strike for these constitutional rights they were met with a violence force that sought to break them.

Address

112 Mate Street
Matewan, WV
25678

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+13046910014

Website

http://www.wvminewars.org/

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