Mystery Behind Who is Disturbing 1921 Site of Nation’s Largest Armed Labor Conflict 

CHARLESTON, W.V. (July 15, 2010) – The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) and the Sierra Club have learned from sources that archeological sites on West Virginia’s historic Blair Mountain are being destroyed. Nationally significant to the U.S. labor movement, the legendary 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain was a clash of 10,000 people, with coal miners rising up against coal barons in defense of their right to unionize and exercise their civil liberties. Lasting 10 days, it is the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and the biggest labor struggle in American history. In 2006, it was also listed on the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

Archeologists provided proof that localized, but highly detrimental disturbances have occurred at five locations in the southern part of Blair Mountain – the Blair Gap area. Topsoil has been removed and trees have been uprooted, most likely from bulldozing within the past three to six months. Since archeological evidence of the battle lies in the top five to six centimeters of topsoil, even the slightest disturbance will destroy both known and potentially significant sites on the battlefield. One of the sites, in fact, is already documented and on file at the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office.

As bulldozers from the unknown source destroy these archeological sites, the National Trust, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and Sierra Club have filed a petition with the National Park Service to re-list Blair Mountain on the National Register of Historic Places. The groups contend that the decision to remove the site from the National Register was a violation of National Park Service regulations.

“Blair Mountain – a symbol of America’s labor movement – should be re-listed on the National Register, protected and not destroyed,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “With this destruction, the nation is losing innumerable and irreplaceable remnants of a major historic event before they have even been documented.”

On December 30, 2009, the National Park Service removed the Blair Mountain Battlefield from the National Register of Historic Places, claiming that de-listing was necessary due to a procedural error in calculating the percentage of property owners who objected to the site’s listing. Coal mining groups had acquired a large portion of the battlefield and these coal operators have shown their intent to level the area through destructive surface mining. It is noted that only one of the sites being bulldozed is on property with current mining permits.

"Labor's bloody history matters more in West Virginia than in many other places. This act is almost like bulldozing the Custer Battlefield or Antietam to beef up some corporate bottom line," said Jim Sconyers, chair of the Sierra Club’s West Virginia Chapter. “Do we want to erase this pivotal milestone from the land?”

Despite the destruction, the high degree integrity of the overall battlefield, as documented by Dr. Harvard Ayers in 2006, remains intact. Any further disturbance, however, will erase the archaeological and historical significance of these sites, leading to irreparable damage to the battlefield.

“This bulldozing is particularly disturbing since we scientists are only beginning to understand the details of this 1921 labor conflict,” said Dr. Ayers, long-time Blair Mountain archeologist and professor at Appalachian State University. “To bulldoze a fragile archeological resource that means so much to West Virginians and beyond is like ripping pages out of the only history book of the battle.”

Local residents and activists have fought for decades to protect the mountain and are supportive of these latest efforts.

“Preserving Blair Mountain is a priority for me because it's a matter of respect for West Virginians, especially those of us who grew up in the coalfields,” said Regina Hendrix, resident of Kanawha County in West Virginia. “Corporations from Richmond, New York and St. Louis have come to my home state and obliterated our communities and disrespected our history and culture and I am grateful for the work of OVEC, Sierra Club and the National Trust for Historic Preservation for responding to our wish for help.”

To view the evidence of destruction on Blair Mountain, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQfMfG_tpsA

For more information, visit:

http://www.PreservationNation.org
http://sc.org/blairmountain
http://www.ohvec.org/
http://www.friendsofblairmountain.org