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Giardina’s novel takes as its subject the rapacious conquest by coal mining companies of southern West Virginia and the courageous battles waged by miners and their families in defense of their land, their labor and their lives.
<p>“It was kind of weird growing up, knowing that there was a war fought here and nobody knew about it, and there’s no monuments to it,” Professor Chuck Keeney said. Others believe the story of the mine wars has been suppressed because it challenges the image of big coal as a benevolent force in the state. </p>
Blair Mountain, site of a deadly 1921 battle between miners and their employers, is mostly inaccessible to those who would honor its significance.
On his newest release, “Once Again,” bluegrass elder statesman Del McCoury leans into a swaggering, swinging, piano-led shuffle; blue as blue can get. “It’s the same night after night, heart broke on a stool under neon lights,” sings one of the most unique and recognizable voices in bluegrass music. “Once Again '' is the second single from McCoury’s upcoming album Almost Proud (McCoury Music), a blue-collar collection of songs that reflect McCoury’s self-image of a working man who chose music as his vocation.
Using $1.7 million from the U.S. Economic Development Authority, Coalfield Development Corp. and the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum plan to transform three buildings in Matewan into a job training center while preserving mine wars and unionization history.