Barbara Ellen Smith comes from a long line of preachers and farmers in Virginia and West Virginia. She is the author or editor of four books and numerous articles about labor, gender, race and social movements in Appalachia and the South, including Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners and the Struggle over Black Lung Disease (Haymarket, 2020). She is the mother of two sons and lives in Charleston, WV, where she is working on a novel set in southern WV. Barbara Ellen is the President of the Museum Board.

Lindsay Shade resides in Lexington, KY, where they are Lecturer in Community and Leadership Development at the University of Kentucky. Originally from rural Arkansas, Lindsay is passionate about how inequalities in land ownership, access, and use impact rural people and their lives. Lindsay says “The museum is home to me because of all the people connected to it, who helped bring me back to my own rural roots; it is also a vital example of necessary truth telling that cuts through false narratives and uplifts working and landless people.”

Kandi Workman (she/her) is a queer creative from southern West Virginia. She works with the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts as a Programming Manager and Grant Writer to increase access to economic opportunities for artists throughout WV. She serves as an AppalCore Member for the Waymakers Collective. As a daughter of a retired UMWA coal miner, she proudly serves as a board member of the WV Mine Wars Museum, bringing visibility to unions, labor history, and workers’ rights. Workman graduated from WVSU in 2016 (BAs in Professional Writing, Creative Writing, and English Literature) and in 2023 she received an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She uses her talents and experiences to bring awareness to Appalachian history, cultures, and diversity through essays, poetry, and hybrid works.

Grace Williams is the director of Big Laurel Learning Center, an environmental and educational non-profit in Mingo County, WV. She hikes and gardens with kids, digging up worms, wandering along trails, and cultivating curiosity and appreciation for one of the continent’s most biodiverse regions. Grace also hosts visiting student groups who journey to Big Laurel in order to expand their understanding of history, environment, education, culture, and economy. Grace regularly brings her students to Matewan to visit the Mine Wars Museum and learn about the region’s labor history. Grace is earning her Master’s Degree in Community Development from Future Generations University. When she’s not working or studying, Grace is usually skating with the Chemical Valley Roller Derby team, exploring on her road bike, hiking on the 400-acre JASMER land reserve, supporting local live music, or maybe cruising the highways on her next road trip.

With a 40-year membership in the UMWA, Scott Erwin has a deep connection to the coal mining industry, including over 24 years working as a surface miner and 15 years with the office of West Virginia Miners' Health, Safety, and Training. Scott has served as the Pastor of Rockhouse Free Will Baptist Church since 2011, where he'd previously been a deacon since 1993. Scott is deeply dedicated to his family and the local community. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Anita, and their two daughters and four grandchildren.

Francine Jones is a community activist, former member of the Matewan Town Council, and tireless advocate for the town of Matewan. Francine leads the all-volunteer effort to restore the 1908 Matewan Lock Up and City Hall, sits on the steering committee for the 2020 Battle of Matewan Centennial, and has overseen several projects in the community. She is the great grand-daughter of John and Mary Brown, the first minority business owners in Matewan, holds strong relationships with many of Matewan’s leaders, and frequently represents the museum in town discussions.

Dave Coker was raised in a working-class family in the mountains of western North Carolina. For over 20 years he has been an active member of the labor movement with extensive experience in organizing and member engagement in right-to-work and non-collective bargaining environments. He currently serves as president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro, IAFF Local 947- the largest IAFF Local of active firefighters in North Carolina. Dave is passionate about teaching union-building skills and has presented classes all over the US and in two Canadian provinces. He has also presented classes at Andy Fredericks Training Days and the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute. Dave still rides the fire truck and is Captain of Engine Co #7 in the Greensboro, NC. He resides in Engine 7’s first-due with his wife of 16 years, Meredith.

Bobby Starnes was born into a mining family in Knott County, Kentucky on land her ancestors settled just after the Revolutionary War. Growing up with stories of unionizing, mine accidents, and her father crawling miles on hands and knees to get to his work site, she has always identified as a coal miner’s daughter. She earned her doctorate in Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments at Harvard where her studies focused on the education of Appalachian and Urban Appalachian children. A long-time teacher, she is currently a professor of Appalachian and General Studies at Berea College.

Kenny King is an avocational archaeologist and photographer whose lifelong devotion to finding and preserving the physical artifacts of the Mine Wars has been instrumental in the struggle to save Blair Mountain from strip mining. Kenny’s work on battlefield archaeology and artifact collection has built the foundation of our museum’s collection. He is a retired coal industry lab technician and a founding member of the museum’s board.

Libby Lindsay worked as an underground coal miner from 1976 to 1996, working with both her dad (briefly) and her sister. She was involved in the Coal Employment Project (CEP), and has been a proud UMWA member for more than 40 years. Libby lives in Chapmanville, WV and remains active in her union and other social justice fights.

We’re proud to have a longterm working relationship with United Mine Workers (UMWA) Local 1440 in Matewan, who have been with us since day one.