1869 Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. After a 3 month strike, coal miners return to work. Then 179 miners (men and boys) die in a coal mine fire.  A US law was passed to require two exits from mines.

     21 June 1877 Pennsylvania. Ten coal-mining activists ("Molly Maguires") were hanged. They were organizing miners and demanding better pay and safer working conditions.

     10 September 1897 Latimer, Pennsylvania. 19 unarmed striking coal miners were killed and 36 wounded for refusing to go back to work. Most were shot in the back. There is nothing more dangerous than standing between coal mine investors and their profits.

     12 October 1898 Virden, Illinois. Fourteen were killed, 25 wounded in violence resulting when coal mine owners attempted to break a strike.

     October 1902 Pana, Illinois. Fourteen striking coal miners were killed and 22 wounded.

    23 November 1903 Cripple Creek, Colorado. US Troops were dispatched (at tax payer expense) to get striking miners back to work so owners/investors could collect profits and dividends again.  This is an example of privatizing profits and socializing costs. For several years Cripple Creek had violent mine wars.

      6 December 1907 Monongah, West Virginia. 362 coal miners killed in an explosion. Many of the coal miners were children, some as young as 10. Child labor was common in the coal mines.

    13 November 1909 Cherry, Illinois. 259 Coal Miners killed in a fire.

    18 April 1912 Paint Creek and Cabin Creek,West Virginia. Miners went out on strike. At one point 1200 National Guardsmen were called out to get striking coal miners back to work. There was a great deal of violence and terrorism by both sides during the course of the strike. Considered by many to be one of the most violent strikes in American history. The strike ended in July 1913.

   22 October 1913 Dawson, New Mexico 263 Coal Miners killed in an explosion.

   20 April 1914.  Trinidad, Colorado. Ludlow Massacre. Billionaire John D Rockefeller Jr. wanted striking coal miners returned to work at any cost. They had been on strike for 8 months.  Owners and Investors of the coal mines were losing enormous profits.  They ordered the Colorado National Guard and later the US army to open fire with large machine guns on a "tent city" of striking mine workers.  Two women and twelve little children were burned to death when their tent caught on fire. In all, 65 men, women, and children were shot to death in this infamous strike. The miners returned to work. The Owners and Investors started counting their profits again. Many strike leaders jailed.

       19 May 1920 Matewan, West Virgina. The Battle of Matewan. Police chief Sid Hatfield and Mayor C. Testerman try to protect coal miners from interference by coal mine owners/investors in their union drive.   A gun battle between coal company detectives and miners resulted in the deaths of 7 detectives, Mayor Testerman, and 2 coal miners.   The film Matewan is a depiction of these events.

       September 1921 15 months later coal company detectives assassinate Police Chief Sid Hatfield and six others. This triggered an armed rebellion of 10,000 West Virginia coal miners resulting in the "The Battle of Blair Mountain".

      September 1921. Battle of Blair Mountain. West Virginia. Over 10,000 armed coal miners and other workers organize and attempt to "unionize" and correct the brutal exploitation, corruption, and unsafe working conditions generated by coal mine Owners and Investors.

      The coal miners surrendered when Owners and Investors sent in the US Army. The Army used 2000 troops, many airplanes, and gas warfare specialists to put down the rebellion.

     Not much gained by coal miners. Corruption and exploitation continued.  Many coal miners punished as anti Americans and Freedom haters. Owners and Investors and their descendants are still living off the profits "earned" in those times.

21 June 1922. Herrin, IL, 36 striking coal miners killed. Many injured.

21 November 1927 Columbine, Colorado. The state of Colorado deployed machine guns, bomber aircraft, and cannons to intimidate coal miners. Six miners were killed and a great many wounded in the "Columbine Massacre". Out of this struggle Colorado coal miners gained union contracts.

4 May 1931 Harlan County, Kentucky. "Bloody Harlan". In a bitter strike, company vigilantes kill several coal miners. This touched off a "reign of terror" that lasted over 10 years. Many deadly acts of terrorism took place to discourage coal miners from asking for better pay, benefits, and safety. The film "Harlan County Wars" is about the coal mine wars of this era.

1954 Bayard, New Mexico.  The film "Salt of the Earth" is banned by US congressional pressure because it showed struggling miners (in this case zinc miners) in a favorable light; and mine owners/investors as being greedy.  This is the only Hollywood film ever banned in US history.  The lead actress was deported to Mexico. In 1993 Salt of the Earth was selected by the prestigious Library of Congress as one of only 100 American films to be preserved for posterity. Called by some, the most courageous "American" film ever made.

20 November 1968 Farmington, West Virginia. 78 Coal Miners killed in an explosion.

1969. US Congress finally orders black lung to be eradicated in the coal industry.

Today, it is estimated that over 1,500 former coal miners die of black lung each year. [Over 75,000 since 1969]. However, unlike the sensational news coverage of disasters such as the recent tragic Saco Mine disaster, black lung victims die an agonizing death in isolated rural communities, away from the spotlight of publicity.

Here are some web sites for further information.

West Virginia Coal Mine Wars

http://www.wvculture.org/history/minewars.html

Eclectic Time Line of US Labor History http://www.lutins.org/labor.html

Black Lung Disease

http://www.umwa.org/blacklung/blacklung.shtml

Bloody Harlan County Wars http://athena.english.vt.edu/~appalach/essaysG/harlan2.htm

Worst mine disasters