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Matewan Before The Massacre: Politics, Coal, And The Roots Of Conflict In Mingo County, 1793-1920, Rebecca J. Bailey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

On May 19, 1920, gunshots rang through the streets of Matewan, West Virginia, in an event soon known as the “Matewan Massacre.” Most historians of West Virginia and Appalachia see this event as the beginning of a long series of events known as the second mine wars. This dissertation argues that this event was, rather, the culmination of an even longer series of events that unfolded in Mingo County, dating back at least to the Civil War, and setting the stage for the second mine war. Equally important, while it is outside the scope of this dissertation, the conflicts in …