We were all over the place today with our journey starting in Beckley and ending near Chapmanville, WV. The trip started off with a journey to underground to the Exhibition Coal mine in Beckley, WV. We then moved to a company now owned by CAT which makes the high-wall machines right here in West Virginia. I couldn't believe how big the machines are and the cool thing is that they work so that miner's don't have to go underground. After that, we drove to Welch to the courthouse to stand in the spot where Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were gunned down on the steps by Baldwin-Felts detectives as they were walking into the building. As we took pictures, it was odd to think of something so brutal happening here. I come to Welch often with my grandparents and I honestly can say that I have never stepped on those courthouse steps. Our journey then took us to Matewan where we learned about the moments leading up to the murders of Hatfield and Chambers starting with a shoot out near the train depot.
Although there were many interesting sites to see today, probably my most favorite spot was at the Exhibition Coal Mine. Marvin was our guide; an ex-miner from the Beckley area and was not only knowledgeable but added just enough humor to make the trip a success. The actual mine is 5-7 mles long and was mined by hand for 20 years. Miners would use kerosine, lard, bacon grease or anything that would burn in their head lamps. They also kept their lunch in metal lunch pails because of rats.
We then toured an old school, bachelor shanty (bachelor pad), church, superintendent's house and a miner's house. As we would walk into each building, there were tour guides that were there to give you a bit of history. Probably the most interesting comment came from a lady in the superintendent's house. She said that her grandfather was a coal miner and worked in a mine 10 miles from Beckley. Her family didn't have much growing up, but there were able to make it on what they had. When I told her that we were teachers in Cabell county and our main mission on this trip, she got very excited and said that it is important to keep the history of West Virginia going. She said that her grandchildren had no interest in what their great-grandfather went through and she seemed saddened by this. I told her that one of my goals was to make sure that these types of stories didn't die and that my students would learn about what happened here. It is so important that we do not forget about the past and current conditions that miners work in. We should also be proud that the high-wall mining equipment is built and operated by West Virginians!
Marvin holding up what they used later, around 1900-1940 for lights down in the mine (calcium carbide you mix with water and it makes acetylene gas)
The wall of the mine
One room school house.
Great job!! you will keep the students very interested in the subject matter. It has been great getting to know you over the last few days.
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