Out-of-State Newspapers
Glorification of the Battle
News of the Battle of Blair Mountain stretched across the entire country, making its way as far as San Fransisco, California. Even though this was a real and devastating battle for West Virginians, out-of-state newspapers saw this as an opportunity to create gaudy and exaggerated headlines when news came in. They played into the idea of the miners being wild and violent as opposed to focusing on what the miners were fighting for. When newspapers in West Virginia were headlining that miners were fighting for better working conditions, national papers were headlining “BLOODY BATTLES.”
“National papers sold a lot of copies by portraying the area as a lawless land where the mountaineers were inherently violent. This was a romanticized version of events, creating an Old West type image of Appalachia. This obviously didn’t lead to widespread public support for the miners in their struggles.”
-Louis Martin, Founding Member of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
It is important to note that the dates on the out-of-state newspapers may not match up with the events that were reported on that day in West Virginia newspapers due to the delay in information getting to other states.
The Lasting Effect of the Labor Uprising
Though the Battle of Blair Mountain was not a success for the miners in West Virginia, it was only the beginning of multiple labor uprisings throughout the country that were successful. Many other coal miners organized their own strikes out-of-state in addition to railway workers and other blue-collar workers. In addition to sparking other labor strikes, the country continued to be interested in the trials related to large names that were involved in the battle. This exhibit includes reports going up to 1924 but it is possible that newspapers continued to report on Blair after this time.
