The Mine Wars

FAIN: TR-228541-15

Filmmakers Collaborative, Inc. (Melrose, MA 02176-3933)
Randall Mark MacLowry (Project Director: August 2014 to present)

Production of a two-hour documentary on labor unrest in the early West Virginia coal mining industry.

"The Mine Wars" is a two-hour documentary for the PBS history series "American Experience." The film tells the largely overlooked story of America's largest labor uprising, which took place in the mountains of southern West Virginia during a tumultuous period in American history. In Appalachia, the arrival of the coal industry--the primary energy source in the early 20th century--brought native mountaineers, African-American migrants, and European immigrants into a protracted struggle for their rights as working people in a changing American democracy. The film will highlight the years of violence that accompanied the miners' attempts to form a union, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, the largest civil insurrection in the United States since the Civil War.

Associated Products

The Mine Wars (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The Mine Wars
Writer: Mark Zwonitzer
Director: Randall Mark MacLowry
Producer: Randall Mark MacLowry
Abstract: The Mine Wars is a two-hour documentary for the PBS history series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. The film tells the largely overlooked story of America's largest labor uprising, which took place in the mountains of southern West Virginia during a tumultuous period in American history. In Appalachia, the arrival of the coal industry--the primary energy source in the early 20th century--brought native mountaineers, African-American migrants, and European immigrants into a protracted struggle for their rights as working people in a changing American democracy. The film will highlight the years of violence that accompanied the miners' attempts to form a union, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, the largest civil insurrection in the United States since the Civil War.
Year: 2017
Primary URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/theminewars/
Primary URL Description: PBS website
Format: Film
Format: DVD

Prizes

Erik Barnouw for outstanding programming on television, or in documentary film, concerned with American history, the study of American history, and/or the promotion of American history
Date: 1/1/2017
Organization: Organization of American Historians

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