The Commemoration of a Century!
Join Us Labor Day Weekend.
Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Kick-Off Event, Friday, September 3 at 4pm in Charleston, WV at the Culture Center, Capital Complex
For more details and up-to-date information: https://www.blair100.com/events
Main Events
- Retracing the Miners March to Blair Mountain, Friday, September 3, 8am to Sunday, September 5, 5pm, organized by the United Mine Workers of America from Marmet to Blair
- Blair Centennial Finale hosted by the United Mine Workers of America at the Annual Labor Day Rally, Monday, September 6, 202, 1pm to 5pm in Racine, WV
Archives and History
- Museums, Labor, and Social Activism: A Symposium Presented by the West Virginia Association of Museums, Saturday, September 4, 2021 at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charleston, WV
- A Guided Walking Tour of Historic Matewan, Sunday, September 5, 2021 in Matewan, WV hosted by the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
- Blair Mountain Lecture Series, September 8 – November 17 at 1pm at Cantrell Hall hosted by UVA Wise College in Wise, VA
Speakers Include:- 9/8/21- Dr. John Hennen, Professor Emeritus at Morehead State University, Author of The Americanization of West Virginia: Creating a Modern Industrial State, 1916-1925
- 9/29/21 – Mr. C. Lloyd Tomlinson, WVU Doctoral Candidate, dissertation titled, “The Stonega Coke and Coal Company Since the New Deal”
- 10/13/21 – Dr. Rebecca Bailey, Associate Professor of History at Northern Kentucky University, Author of Matewan Before the Massacre: Politics, Coal, and the Roots of Conflict in a West Virginia Mining Community
- 11/17/21 – Dr. Bob Hutton, Associate Professor of History, Glenville State Univ., Author of Bloody Breathitt: Politics and Violence in the Appalachian South
- A republication of the 1973 Oral History collection, On Dark and Bloody Ground: An Oral History of the West Virginia Mine Wars, by Anne Lawrence, with a Foreword by Catherine Moore and an Afterword by Cecil E. Roberts, to be published by West Virginia University Press
- 5th Annual Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium, Saturday, September 4, 2021 at the First State Capitol, hosted by the WALs Foundation
Special Exhibits and Displays
- The Road to Blair Mountain: the West Virginia Mine Wars 1863-1921, held virtually on June 20, hosted by the WV Regional & History Collection at West Virginia University as part of its annual West Virginia Day Celebration
- Labor Cartoons in the Mine Wars Era: Symbols, Messages, and Meanings, sponsored by the Watts Museum at West Virginia University
- Special Exhibition, sponsored by the Monongalia Arts Center, in collaboration with the Artist Collective of WV and Morgantown History Museum.
- I Come Creeping, paintings by Chris DeMaria, hosted by the Solidarity Gallery at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum with special Artist Talk at 6:30pm on Sunday, September 5
- Blair Footsteps: Pop Up Roadside Exhibit Trail, hosted by Patrich Corcoran, Gibbs Kinderman, and Kyle Warmack
Partner Events and Panels
- The Battle of Blair Mountain: One Hundred Years Later – Significance for Working People, held virtually on August 19, hosted by the Battle of Homestead Foundation
- Labor Film Screenings, Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 6pm in Huntington, WV hosted by School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University
- Reading and Discussion with Authors, Saturday, September 4, 2021 at 2pm in Charleston, WV at Taylor Books hosted by author Catherine Moore, WVU Press, and WVU Humanities Center
- Reenactment: Murder of Sid Hatfield & Ed Chambers, September 4, 2021 at 12pm, McDowell County Courthouse
- The Terror of the Tug Drama, September 4 at 8pm in Welch, WV at the McArts Amphitheater, hosted by McArts
- MATEWAN Screenings, Saturday, September 4 at 2pm in Welch, WV at Marquis Cinemas.
- Solidarity Supper and Storytelling, Sunday, September 5, 2021 at 12 noon in Kermit, WV hosted by the Big Laurel Learning Center
- Modern Day Rednecks: How Rural Organizers are Reclaiming the Symbol of the Red Bandana, September 4, 2021 in Charleston, WV hosted by Southern Crossroads, WV Can’t Wait, WV United Caucus, Steel City John Brown Gun Club, and the WV Mine Wars Museum
- The People’s Church: A Dissident Coalfield Worship Experience, TBA in Logan County on Sunday, September 5 at 6pm, hosted by Reverend Brad Davis
- Coalfields Heritage Festival, September 9-12 in Welch, WV, hosted by the Town of Welch
Special Dedication Ceremony
- The Local 1440 Building, housing the WV Mine Wars Museum – Building to be dedicated to UMWA Local President Cecil Roberts, Saturday, June 12th, 2021, 11AM to 1PM, 401 Mate Street, Matewan, WV “Live Better, Work Union!”
