At one point during a union meeting, a union leader is scolding the other men for not showing up at the picket line. Chester Napier grew up in the 1940s in a one-room log house in the woods of Smith, Ky. As a boy, he learned to hunt squirrel, groundhog and deer from his father, Fred Napier. A third of the community lives in poverty; a quarter of working-age residents are disabled. Cal Winslow takes a look back. A federal bankruptcy judge in Charleston, West Virginia, is currently hearing arguments to decide on the fate of the blockaded coal in Harlan county, with Blackjewel arguing the coal was . All rights reserved. This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. It was directed and produced by filmmaker Barbara Kopple . The question is back: Which Side Are You On?. "I accept any and all kinds of documentaries," she said. " Of course, it would be remiss to talk about womens roles in this film without also addressing that the film was directed by a woman, Barbara Kopple. She notes that Duke Power Company's profits increased 170 percent in a single year. "I found out later that they planned to kill us that day," Kopple said later, in a discussion I chaired at the Filmmakers' Lodge. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. This tactic is successful in scaring the men off, but not the women. But her cinematographer, Hart Perry, got an unforgettable shot of an armed company employee driving past in his pickup, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. First of all, they were tired of the way the media portrayed thema familiar feeling today, but even worse back then. Bobby has continued the work since Beckys death, but the number of volunteers (like those photographed here with Bobby) has dwindled. Reprinted from Ebert's 2005 Sundance coverage. The strikers won, but only after 13 months and the murder of a young miner, Lawrence Jones, age 22. No unionized mines remain in the state. Lois Scott, a leading woman in the mining community, is shown playing a major role in galvanizing the people in support of the strike. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Without womens contributions, it is unlikely that the strike would have been successful. When miners at the Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Kentucky, went on strike against Duke Power Company in June 1973, Kopple went there to film the strike, which the UMWA had helped to organize. I don't think we'd have won it without the film crew. judge hogg harlan county. All agree on the regions bleak present and dim future. Wayne Burgess of Tennessee was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the death of his girlfriend's 1-year-old daughter, Nakeavia Rivers, who died Aug. 8, 1997, after being . Id like to see the next president go in on coal, he says. The pay was good, and he was able to find work easily in one mine or another. Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter A former VISTA volunteer, she had worked on other documentaries, especially as an advocate of workers' rights. Sitting on a couch in his grandfathers home, Rowlett explained that he had been willing to pay the physical price of working in the mines in order to be close to home. Dirt roads, no plumbing, wages lower than the standard living condition rates, abused mentally and physically by a large monopolistic corporation, and a lack of a full education are all factors that led to the strike of the minors in Harlan County. Although Stewart says hes not much for politics, he harbors hope that Novembers presidential election will bring Donald Trump to the White House and mark a change for him and his family. Cause I thought, you know, they was the enemy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County,_USAHarlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", a 1973 effort of 180 . Alas, catastrophe awaited, this time in the booming 50s. [11], In the film's 2004 Criterion Collection special feature, The Making of Harlan County, USA, associate director Anne Lewis compares Scott to Women's Liberation activists. Blair A 73-year-old Florence Reece attended and led a rousing, emotional rendition of Which Side Are You On?. Kopple and Perry spent 18 months in Harlan County, filming what happened as it happened. She continues to harangue them, saying that theyre there to support the men, but they wont keep doing it if the men dont show up. Lyle Harlan Cassanova passed away on April 12,2010 at Appleton Medical Center. The county's median household income is $25,186, less than half the national median ($53,482). The new union leadership pledged to organize (or reorganize) the unorganized. Coal mining once provided a middle-class living. Cal Winslow takes a look back. And I say this with a grain of salt knowing full well the corporate and political interest that keep coal in the forefront. Interviews with many of the miners and company executives tell the story without the narration that we see in many of today's documentary, in which the documentarian is a central character in the film. Later, after he was convicted of giving $20,000 to another union executive council member to hire the killers of Yablonski and his wife, Boyle appears frail, sickly and using a wheelchair; he was carried up the courthouse steps to face sentencing. Using a translator, the Spanish-speaking miners told their story. Now 75, Chester has endured his share of losses. Omissions? with updates on movies, TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes podcast and more. Interment will be in Lund Lutheran Cemetery,. That is one approach. The mine owners have as little regard as ever for the lives of miners and their families. I thought about trying to find something else, but there aint much stuff around here to do, he says. You are now the manager of this memorial. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt. Blanton Forest, on the south slope of Pine Mountain in the northern part of Harlan county, is the largest old-growth forest in Kentucky. Jerry Johnson, one of the striking Eastover miners, attributes the conclusion of the strike to the presence of Kopple and her film crew: "The cameras probably saved a bunch of shooting. Striking miners in the coalfields of southern West Virginia forced the Republican governor to sign a bill that allowed compensation for black lung disease. Hazel Dickens's folk song lyrics of 'United we stand, divided we fall' and Florence Reece's lyrics for "Which Side Are You On?" Joseph Yablonski was a passionate, populistic union representative who was loved by many of the miners. Staff at the Harlan Hotel seemed pleased to show us the bullets still embedded in the failing faade of the aging building. . Miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, have drawn national attention with their direct actionoccupying a railroad track to halt a coal train until the miners get paid the wages they are owed for digging it up. Although these miners today have no union, the mines of Harlan County have a storied history of grassroots labor militancy. Later, after he was convicted of giving $20,000 to another union executive council member to hire the killers of Yablonski and his wife, Boyle appears frail, sickly and using a wheelchair; he was carried up the courthouse steps to face sentencing.Almost a full year into the strike, miner Lawrence Jones was fatally shot during a scuffle. Miners and their families responded by occupying the railroad tracks to keep the still-loaded trains from carrying coal away till they were paid. Today, U.S. coal comes mostly from the Western plains, dug out by huge earth-moving machinery and carried to the coasts on mile-long, dust-spewing trains. Several times she is seen publicly chastising those she feels have been absent from the picket lines. No copyright infringement intended. Each month, millions of tons of coal are excavated from the seams of the Appalachian Mountains. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike",[1] a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky. By then a powerful UMWA represented 400,000 working miners, promising safety at work and an escape from the poverty that had consumed generation after generation. 0 cemeteries found. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Union members were beaten, their families terrorized. "[2], When the film was re-released in 2006, critic Roger Ebert praised the film, writing "The film retains all of its power, in the story of a miners' strike in Kentucky where the company employed armed goons to escort scabs into the mines, and the most effective picketers were the miners' wives -- articulate, indomitable, courageous. Featuring a haunting soundtrackwith legendary country and bluegrass artists Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, Sarah Gunning, and Florence Reecethe film is a heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line. Pollitt, D. H. (April 17, 1991). Im home where I want to die at, in these mountains here, he says. Only late in 1939 did intransigent Harlan coal masters reluctantly sign on with the union. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky.It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 49th Academy Awards.. She has said that her desire in making documentaries is to get intimate, to take a peek under the surface where outsiders dont normally get to see. Its been months since hes had a job. The desperation and the courage of the miners of Harlan County, and the violent repression . Who were the Howards and Turners? After the coal miners at the Brookside Mine join a union, the owners refuse the labor contract. She notes that Duke Power Company's profits increased 170 percent in a single year. The cinematography is unbelievable, it doesn't look like a documentary. Environmental groups say other factors, such as the abundance of cheap natural gas, are behind coals slump. Cabin Creek, RT25: Celebrating 25 years of Rotten Tomatoes. The number of miners murdered by mine guards remains unknown. Coal is the lifeblood of Harlan, where miners fierce battles against deadly working conditions remain a symbol of union grit and militance. All weve got down here is grocery stores and restaurants.. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners' sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Ive been trying to keep it going, but when you dont draw much, it dont go far.. It was [and still is] used to signify that what happened in the realm of politics, a field largely controlled by men, affect women's everyday lives. Organizer Garfield Lewis wrote, The people have been so starved out that they are flocking into the Union by the thousands I organized 9 Locals Tuesday.. She reveals that the head scab, Basil Collins, wanted to hire someone to shoot her; however, the most dangerous incidents were the acts of violence by the mine owners against the miners. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 Oscar-winning documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike", an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Po. After the railroad arrived in 1911, the town developed as a shipping point for lumber and coal. Its gonna be set up a little bit different than the last one. On an overcast Friday in mid-March, Levi Burkhart watches from his hilltop home in Coldiron, Ky., as a stream of coal trucks rumbles by. In Episode 2 of the The Drunk Projectionist, producer and host Todd Melby interviewed Barbara Kopple about Harlan County USA, her impressive first film.The 1976 documentary won an Academy Award. Copyright Fandango. Harlan, city, seat of Harlan county, southeastern Kentucky, U.S., in the Cumberland Mountains, on the Clover Fork Cumberland River. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 49th Academy Awards.It was directed and produced by filmmaker Barbara Kopple, then early in her filmmaking career. Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. The Unloved, Part 113: The Sheltering Sky, Fatal Attraction Works As Entertainment, Fails as Social Commentary, Prime Videos Citadel Traps Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in Played-Out Spy Game, New York Philharmonic and Steven Spielberg Celebrate the Music of John Williams. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. I aint been back, he says of Chicago. If they can take mine and take him on, they can have him. You see the true picture of this small town and their complete dependence on the coal mining industry. The film captures the dire poverty of the miners and their families, and their bitter and violent struggles against both Eastover and union-busting scabs and . It contains a famous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and Kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten. HARLAN COUNTY, USA is an Oscar-winning documentary about a 13-month strike between coal miners and the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in eastern Kentucky in 1973 and 1974. Gage County, Nebraska, USA . In this documentary about labor tension in the coal-mining industry, director Barbara Kopple films a strike in rural Kentucky. Microfilmed records can be found online at Kentucky, Probate Records, 1792-1977 for Caldwell, Henry, Hickman, Russell and Trimble counties. Benjamin Harlan McClellan passed away on 12 January, 1932 in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA. Where is Harlan. By the end of the year the UMWA was once again the nations largest union; it would go on to bankroll the organizing of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the labor upsurge of the 30s. wide, Release Date (Streaming): Harlan County, USA followed 200 coal-mining families and their battle to get their rights, what every human being needs, and yet it's unbaised. . (2000) 2,081; (2010) 1,745. Synopsis. In: A. McColl. On July 1, Blackjewel LLC abruptly shut down its six Harlan mines, filed bankruptcy, and sent the miners home without pay. A miner complained that his foreman demanded he give him a bottle of Gatorade every day as sort of a job tax. Murdered while on a picket line in Harlan County KY, After his death an agreement was signed between the miners and the union! An MFD victory in the union election followed, and the miners movement became an archetype for rank-and-file organizations in the 70s. These ladies are setting it up. I asked Kopple what she thought about other styles of documentaries, like Michael Moore's first-person adventures, or the Oscar-nominated "Story of the Weeping Camel," which is scripted and has people who portray themselves, but is not a direct record of their daily lives. The 1920s, a decade of defeat for American workers everywhere, left the UMWA in a shambles. Lifelong Harlan County resident Priscilla Stephens, 66, recalls the death of her father, Charlie Simpson, from black lung disease in 1966. The miners revival, led by the UMWA, came in the wake of Franklin Roosevelt's election in 1933 and in their belief that only their union might save them. The most shocking moment in Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) looks at first like an abstract painting. I also found that the Catholic hierarchy was working with the coal companies. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 49th Academy Awards. 170 IMDb 8.2 1 h 44 min 1976. They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there Chester had done so well that the company owner tried to entice him to stay with a raise of $1 per hour, from $6.75 to $7.75. Kopple initially intended to make a film about Kenzie[citation needed], Miners for Democracy and the attempt to unseat Tony Boyle as president of the UMWA. One detail struck me with curious strength. There miners and union organizers fought the coal bosses for nearly a decadefor the right to have a union in a county where all but three incorporated towns were owned by the coal companies.