The union organized a divestment campaign, "Dump Duke," in which people were encouraged to sell any stock in Duke Power Company in May of 1974. Author and activist Theodore Dreiser conducted an investigation under the auspices of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP) of the American Communist Party. August 2012) Prescribed by Treasury Department Treasury Dept . [1] The Harlan County coal miners campaigned and fought to organize their workplaces and better their wages and working conditions. Todd Melby: Ive worked as a reporter for 20 years and as a reporter, there are times when I know Im supposed to move forward, but I hesitate to move forward to interview a particular person, and it may not even be particularly dangerous, but there are times when I hesitate and dont move forward because Im not sure whats going to happen. They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there Youll either be a union man or a thug for J. H. Blair Which side are you on? Maybe you can tell us how you started Harlan County. (Kopple says she and her crew were beaten until the strikers rescued them.) Which Side Are You On? was written in the immediate aftershock of a midnight raid on Reeces home and her children by Harlan County sheriff J. H. Blair, in search of her husband. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Nonviolent picketing comes to Harlan mine. Todd Melby: The great thing about that scene is that we hear your voice and see him, and it sets up the viewer getting to know who this guy is and the duplicity. Though most workers felt disillusioned with organized labor, the NMU's radical ideology gained some support, ten local lodges sprang up before the Harlan County NMU was officially chartered. Bill Bruner, the foreman who shot and killed Jones, was eventually put on trial for the death. The Tarnished Knight: Sheriff of Harlan County Paul L. Browning: W.C Stump, *Browning was murdered in 2003* 8. Billy Carroll Bruner, 39, a foreman at the Eastover mine, was wounded in . The SLU was largely seen as serving the interests of the mine owners rather than the workers. His Freedom House biography says he was in UMW from 1972 to 1976 and later Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the Vice President of USA, 1977 to 1981. Sometimes the verses have been changed, but she wrote that song. Barbara Kopple: We were all in a meeting. In the early 70s in Harlan County, Kentucky, which had always been a place where you live and you die by your gun, they also had Bloody Harlan County where people had fought for the right to have a union and many people died. Harlan miners started to organize in the 1920s, a struggle that culminated in a long and violent strike in 1931. Generations-- John Egerton 6. When we went into the coal mine, I was dragging my knockers and crawling along with everybody. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Registered users can login to the website. 2.54. Strikers exchanged gunfire with private guards and local law enforcement; strikebreakers were set upon and beaten. I think that was the most important film in my life because I learned what life and death was all about. Todd Melby: Ah, smart! The killing was a turning point. I didnt know it. In Barbara Kopple 's 40-year career as one of America's greatest documentary directors, the 68-year-old two-time Oscar winner (she turns 69 on July 30) has been on a quest for intimacy in . save the topic. Tags: Barbara Kopple, Harlan County USA, Documentary Film, academy awards, Albert Serra Discuses 'The Death of Louis XIV', Taxi Driver: On The Set With Photographer Steve Schapiro, Episode 8: Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo, Episode 16: Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life. By the end of the year, the UMWA was once again the nations largest union; it would go on to bankroll the organizing of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the labor upsurge of the 30s. Whats not good about it, then? Strike benefits are $100 weekly for a family, $90 for a couple, and $80 for a single man. Mineworkers and their families in Harlan County, Kentucky, have blockaded the railroad tracks of a deadbeat employer. During the strike, there were scattered arrests at the picket sitesabout 40, according to the policeand both strikers and company officials reported that shots had been fired into their homes and company buildings. Harlan County was fighting for the right to have a union. Previously, he was a film critic for The Globe and Mail newspaper from 1995 to 2015. Wages at these mines came into step with the rest of the nation. I'm one of them and I feel like I've got to be with them. Barbourville -- William "Ed" Bruner, 62, Hopper Funeral Home. The Brookside strike is vividly recounted in Barbara Kopples masterpiece, the documentary Harlan County, USA. What a buncha Nazi evildoers! I was told if I was ever alone at night that they would kill me, so I promised the head gun thug, Basil Collins, he wouldnt catch me alone at night. On May 5, 1931 the pot boiled over; in Harlan County Kentucky, heavily armed deputies and company men, called "gun thugs" by miners, confronted disgruntled union men on a road near Evarts. It takes place in 1974 and follows a strike by Kentucky coal miners, as well as efforts by UMW reformers to kick out the union's corrupt president, Tony Boyle. A UMWA organizer who welcomed us displayed a revolver on the dashboard of his car. No. In the boldest example, we see a defiant Tony Boyle, president of United Mine Workers, sneering at his rivals in the late sixties before his indictment for bribery and murder; later, we see him, a shriveled figure in a wheelchair, being carried into the court for his trial in 1974, an event that took place after the Brookside strike was over. Some good doc pro, @marriska.fernandes moderates the Q&A for VOICES O, Director Mike McKinlay talks PART OF THE PACK at #, Pamela Anderson with her son/ producer Brandon Lee, Happy #Caturday! IN william F Whifinger Box 2*5. Somebody said, Arent you worried? She said, Im not worried if I shoot some of my breast or titty off because I have plenty of that!. I worked on other people's films doing sound and editing, but . I just wanted to make sure that we didnt miss anything, that we didnt leave any stone unturned. Survivors include his son, Scott Alan (Cortney) Bruner and . Don't they have a shred of conscience? In 1969, Tony Boyle was challenged for the UMWA presidency by Jock . Liam Lacey is a freelance writer for Original-Cin.ca and POV, Canadas premiere magazine about documentaries and independent films. Mineworkers and their families in Harlan County, Kentucky, have blockaded the railroad tracks of a deadbeat employer. Lastly, of course, is the gruesome slaying of striking miner Lawrence Jones by scab Bill Bruner. What are the physical state of oxygen at room temperature? The film struck a popular chord, crossing over into commercial theatresa real-life morality play of heroes and villains, suspense, violence and triumph. /4 . Todd Melby: Oh my God, yes. On 24 August 1974 a mine supervisor named Billy C. Bruner shot and killed a 23-year-old striker, Lawrence D. Jones. This contract is a message to every nonunion coal operator in the land that coalmining families have had their fill of deathtrap mines, starvation wages and meager benefits in return for their labor.. The group met with approximately 50 members of the community and toured the area. Read today's latest news headlines from Lexington, Kentucky and Fayette County. [6][7][8] The most violent attack by mine workers occurred on May 5, 1931 and became known as the Battle of Evarts. The Harlan County War, or Bloody Harlan, was a series of coal industry skirmishes, executions, bombings and strikes (both attempted and realized) that took place in Harlan County, Kentucky, during the 1930s.The incidents involved coal miners and union organizers on one side and coal firms and law enforcement officials on the other. This is based on the events in Harlan County, Ky. during the early 1970's strike. Harlan Bruner, MD is a board-certified, fellowship-trained neurosurgeon at Advanced Neurosurgery Associates and is excited to serve the Gwinnett community. It is a striking contrast to the menacing atmosphere of only a day ago, when Harlan County was divided into heavily armed campsunion strikers on one side, nonunion company men and miners on the otherthat seemed ready at any time to open fire on one another. The strikers made bumper stickers supporting their cause and drove around the community in a truck with loudspeakers to explain their grievances and hopefully gain support. Updated November 23, 2021 12:21 PM. Todd Melby: So, you used your boom pole for protection? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". [2][3] Employees who were known by their bosses to be union members were fired and evicted from their company-owned homes. What was the outcome of Harlan County strike? A Harlan County man has been charged after his girlfriend was found dead in his home, according to court records. (Photo by Bill Bruner/The Flume) -Got shot in the damn head. In June of 1973, workers at the Brookside coal mine in Harlan County, Kentucky voted 113-55 to replace their membership in the Southern Labor Union (SLU) and join the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union. Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky). Billy Carroll Bruner, 39, a foreman at the Eastover mine, was wounded in the shootout and charged with the killing.Mr. People who live in Harlan County generally consider the north part of the county to be the safest. Martin County We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Boy, that Freedom House sure sounds like a bunch of fascists, dunnit? The 103-minute film reaches its first dramatic climax at around the hour mark, when the Womens Club stands in the roadway to the mine, singing and facing down the sheriff and the scab labor in a convoy behind him. An MFD victory in the union election followed, and the miners movement became an archetype for rank-and-file organizations in the 70s. Distinctive and archaic, sometimes hard to decipher, it forms a through-line of vernacular poetry in the film in words worthy of a Cormac McCarthy or Elmore Leonard. Where is the safest place to live in Kentucky? Persons per household, 2017-2021. R S. Warsaw. The Global NonviolentAction Database is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationallicense unless otherwise noted. Several men were arrested for violating the injunction and were sentenced to three months in prison. Barbara Kopple: Yes and know that if you are passionate enough about it, people will help you. Along with opposing the UMWA union, Eastover management also wanted a 'no-strike' clause to be included in any final contract. I went in front of him thinking I was so strong and invincible and you hear me get knocked over. [11] As national political support for the NIRA dwindled, capital gained the upper hand, and when the United States Supreme Court struck down the legislation's pro-union National Recovery Administration portion, shops with union presence in Harlan dwindled from eighteen to one. It was directed and produced by filmmaker Barbara Kopple . It outlawed yellow-dog contracts, company unions, blacklists and discrimination on basis of union activity, all tactics employed by coal companies. Previews and coverage for films playing at DOC NYC 2022, DOC NYC announces the world premieres of new films from, The Kingston Canadian Film Festival returns as Canada's largest showcase devoted exclusively to Canadian films, running, Doug and the Slugs and Me wins the Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the, If/Then Hulu Short Documentary Lab invites applications with an emphasis on LGBTQIA+ storytellers to participate in, In The Colour of Ink, Brian D. Johnson profiles artisanal ink-maker Jason Logan and his creative, Claire Simon delivers a probing documentary epic about women, their bodies, and the intimacy of examining. 8 How many miners died in the Harlan County War? [4]:67 Florence Reece, wife of organizer Sam Reece, wrote the labor standard "Which Side Are You On?". A striking coal miner was in critical condition last night in Harlan County, Ky., after being struck in the head by a shotgun blast. Martin County, Kentucky Currently, Martin Countys population is one of the poorest in the United States. I went to wikipedia to look for the quote from Brecht's The Jewish Wife about how character was a thing that could be measured in units of time, but I couldn't find it. Todd Melby: His name is Basil Collins. In "Bloody Harlan" in the 1930s, miners and union organizers faced bayonets and many died fighting the coal bosses, helping to fuel a national wave of organizing. Todd Melby: Wow. Also, I had all these wonderful people that were putting up everything that they had for the right to have a union. In 1969, Tony Boyle was challenged for the UMWA presidency by Jock Yablonski, who promised democracy in the union. Murdered while on a picket line in Harlan County KY, After his death an agreement was signed between the miners and the union! I think the meaning of this strike goes beyond a single contract at a single coal mine, Mr. Miller told a newsconference. I didnt care. Bloody Harlan. This was shot in 16-millimeter film. I heard about Harlan County Miners for Democracy. 1.1%. California labor activist Caroline Decker first became involved in union activities during the Harlan County War, when she and her sister participated in relief activities for striking miners.