Life After Blair Mountain
The Battle of Blair Mountain helped shape West Virginia activism to the present day. However, The Battle of Blair cannot take all the credit for helping fuel all the radical movements in West Virginia History. Long before resistance was a hastag, it was a bandana. The red bandana has been a sartorial thread in West Virginia history, dating back to at least 1877. That year railroad workers in Martinsburg were protesting a 10 percent pay cut by shutting down the railroads to lead the first nationwide strike in American history. Coal miners adopted the red bandana during the West Virginia Mine Wars. During the 1921 uprising, so many miners wore bandanas that they were called the "Redneck Army." (Keeny, 2018)
In recent years, environmentalists and historic preservationists in the state have used the red bandanna as a symbol of protest, especially during the 2011 protest march to save Blair Mountain from destruction by mountaintop-removal coal mining. (Keeny, 2018)
In 2018, teachers continued the tradition as they wore red shirts and bandannas and packed into the Capitol complex for the duration of the strike. The strike called in response to anger amoung teachers and other school employees over low pay and high health care costs. Hundreds of thousands of teachers instantly broadcast the rallies, chants, and opinions with their smartphones. Teachers began discussing the possibility of a strike through social media long before action was taken-- unions have come a long way from meeting secretly in the woods outside of company towns.
Teacher Strike 2018
The bandanas of 2018 may echo Blair Mountain, but machine guns and tent colonies have been replaced by hasthags and memes. Nothing will ever be the same as The Battle of Blair Mountain, however Blair helped shape West Virginia activism to this day.