By Michael M. Barrick
The Appalachian Chronicle
January 4th, 2025
While ecology is always a top issue for Appalachia, the overriding issue for our publication in 2024 has to do with one issue – how Appalachia’s story is told.
I’ll examine this through a series of articles about Wess Harris, a sociologist, historian, author, editor and former black hat coal miner. The founder and curator of the “Our Story Traveling Museum,” you’ll learn about him by reading the linked stories below. Most importantly, you will learn of the challenge facing Appalachian storytellers, oral historians, writers and others when attempting to reveal the full, unadulterated facts about the struggles faced by coal miners and their families as they worked to establish the United Miners Workers of America (UMWA).
Wess Harris teaching. Photo by Nellie Blanton
What we learn is that the gatekeeper institutions that one would expect to embrace such stories and first-hand accounts will not accept anything except a sanitized version of history.
Anyone that has met Harris knows that arrangement isn’t going to work. Nor should it. Read on to find out why.
The First Coal Wars and the Convict Lease System – Preserving the Teaching of ‘Boomer’ Winfrey
Published on November 3, 2023, I include this because it is where the exhibit scheduled for East Tennessee State University (ETSU) would have begun its story. While not technically a Union effort, it was nevertheless the first time coal miners went on strike – and generally created havoc for the governing and industry officials. Mr. Winfrey graciously agreed to the phone interview, even though he was under Hospice care at the time. He passed away less than a week later.
The Rest of the Story: The ‘When Miners March Traveling Museum’ by Sociologist Wess Harris
In this article, Harris argues that the official accounts of the treatment of union leaders, members, and their families is sanitized by the state of West Virginia and Appalachian regional historians, sociologists, universities and museums.
Wess Harris Reveals His Unlikely Path as Curator of ‘An Incredible History that Hasn’t Been Told’
Twenty years ago, in what Harris characterizes as “a complete accident,” he met William C. Blizzard, whose accounts of the West Virginia Mine Wars had been lost to time. Without that chance meeting between Harris and Blizzard, there would be no traveling museum, for it is based on the book, “When Miners March: The Story of Coal Miners in West Virginia,” written by Blizzard decades ago. Harris published the first edition along with Blizzard in 2004. A second edition was printed by PM Press in 2010. Blizzard passed away in 2008 at 92-years-old. William C. Blizzard was the son of Bill Blizzard. As Harris notes in the Foreword, “Bill Blizzard was the chief protagonist in the drama played out around Blair Mountain. He led the miners’ Red Neck Army as they marched toward Logan County in 1921, hoping to bring the United Mine Workers to the scab mines of Logan and Mingo Counties.”
Who Tells Our Story? Are Self-Anointed Caretakers of Appalachian History Hiding the Truth?
The Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services (CASS) is based on the campus of East Tennessee State University (ETSU). According to its website, “The mission of the Center of Excellence is to promote a deeper understanding of Appalachia and to serve the region through research, education, preservation, and community engagement. The Center is part of the Department of Appalachian Studies and consists of four components.” One is the Reece Museum, which, according to the website, ” … hosts a wide range of exhibits.” One such exhibit was to be the “Our Story Traveling Museum” (formerly “When Miners March Traveling Museum), curated by Harris, a long-time critic of the way the struggles of coal miners who worked and died to form the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is generally portrayed in “official” circles. It, however, was canceled by ETSU – suddenly – after numerous attempts by Harris to keep essential facts in the exhibit, including the use of Esau Scrip, an institutionalized form of rape within the coal fields.
West Virginia Mine Wars – Wess Harris Pulls No Punches in His ‘Our Story Traveling Museum’
Harris has edited two books, collected stories, artifacts and primary-source interviews. Including but going beyond The Battle of Blair Mountain, his comprehensive collection – the Our Story Traveling Museum – reveal many hidden gems and stories about the attempt to unionize the coal fields, such as the terrorism carried on through institutionalized rape by mine managers and others.
Looking Ahead
In case you don’t agree with my selections for the year, hang on. Others will be showcased soon.
I look forward to 2025 and the ongoing and new collaborations it will bring, beginning with the 27th Annual Caldwell Musicians Showcase to be held on March 1 in Lenoir. Read more on that soon. I anticipate publishing a series on the extensive history of the furniture and textile industries in Western North Carolina.
