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Forgetting The Mine Wars: Erasing Insurrection In West Virginia History, Samuel Heywood
Forgetting The Mine Wars: Erasing Insurrection In West Virginia History, Samuel Heywood
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis examines the concerted effort in the West Virginia school system to forget a massive labor movement in the early 20th century. Business leaders and government leaders turned to the classroom to try and control the memory of future generations to ensure a positive perception of the coal industry and avoid any more violent confrontations. After a brief summary of the Mine Wars for context, this thesis uses textbooks to analyze how the authors omitted the conflict and instead used patriotic propaganda to create loyal citizens. Although the Mine Wars have since been included in state history textbooks, …