Winds of Change Newsletter, December 2005     See sidebar for table of contents

From Ireland to Blair Mountain, with Love and Lyrics

Having learned about the plight of Blair Mountain, Irish songwriter Edna Cullen contacted OVEC for information and help in circulating her lyrics for “Death of a Mountain.”

On her website, Edna writes: “Logan County’s Blair Mountain is in the news. A coal mining company is seeking approval to actually ‘blow her head off’ so that 100% of the coal can be extracted…Over and above the environmental issues, Blair Mountain is also a site of enormous historical importance in US Labor and Social History. In 1921, following on from a long and bitter dispute between the United Mineworkers of America and the Mine Owners, the slopes of Blair Mountain witnessed scenes of a Coal Miners armed ‘insurrection.’ This culminated in 10,000 armed miners marching from the neighboring county to face an equal number of armed Deputies and US Federal Troops. Skirmishes over 10 days eventually led to the US Army threatening the use of gas and bombing from the air. Think of it, American bombers ordered to drop bombs and chemical weapons on American citizens. It was, according to some, their second (albeit short) Civil War. Today, many citizens are lobbying to save Blair Mountain from destruction and stop ‘Mountain Top Removal’ as an acceptable form of coal mining. ‘Death of a Mountain’ is our tribute to that struggle.”

To hear the song and read the lyrics, click here, select “songs” from the sidebar menu, and scroll down to “Death of a Mountain (The Blair Mountain Tribute).”

Edna’s song may be part of an audio book about The Battle of Blair Mountain. See below.