Matewan Massacre.

Overview Correspondence between Harold Houston, chief attorney for UMWA District 17 and Floyd Evans of the legal firm of Evans and Sampselle concerning trials after the "Matewan Massacre." Legal affidavits pertaining to the miners' trials of 1922 in Charles Town, West Virginia and to the Red Jacket Coal and Coke Co. and Hitchman Coal and Coke Company's suits against John L. Lewis and John Mitchell of the UMWA. Proclamations of Governor E.F. Morgan concerning the 1921 Mingo County mine strikes. An...

Overview Incomplete court reporter's transcript of the Matewan Trial. This document records testimony bearing upon the event known as the "Matewan Massacre" that occurred on May 19, 1920 on the streets of Matewan, Mingo County. This brief but deadly encounter between local authorities and Baldwin-Felts detectives triggered a chain of events that led to an armed conflict between mine owners and their workers, resulting in the largest armed insurrection in post bellum American history. The transcript...