Workers

On This Day in Labor History, the year was 1921, Mingo County.

On This Day in Labor History, the year was 1921, Mingo County.

Sid Hatfield, Chief of Police in Matewan, West Virginia, stood trial along with 22 others for the murder of Baldwin Felts agent Albert Felts. The backdrop? The United Mine Workers' efforts to organize coal miners. Hatfield, a supporter of miners' rights, confronted Baldwin-Felts agents who were evicting union miners. A phony arrest warrant escalated into a gun battle, known as the Battle of Matewan, leaving 7 detectives, 2 miners, and the Mayor of Matewan dead.