Matewan

Matewan is the home to some of america s most colorful history.

Matewan. The bullet holes in the brick wall of a former post office serve as a reminder of how appalachian coal miners fought to improve the lives of workers a century ago. Matewan written and directed by john sayles this wrenching historical drama recounts the true story of a west virginia coal town where the local miners struggle to form a union rose to the pitch of all out war in 1920. With chris cooper james earl jones mary mcdonnell will oldham. A labor union organizer comes to an embattled mining community brutally and violently dominated and harassed by the mining company.

The matewan historic district was added to the national register of historic places on april 27 1993. The town sits at the heart of the hatfield mccoy feud country and hosted the beginnings of a movement to reform fair working conditions and the right to unionize following the mine wars matewan massacre and battle of blair mountain in the early parts of the twentieth century. Directed by john sayles. Felts attempted to evict families from property owned by the stone mountain coal corporation.

The battle of matewan matewan massacre on may 19 1920 albert c. This started when mr. Matewan is an earnest and sympathetic look at both the universal tragedy of the exploitation of workers and the specific tragedy of the struggle of the matewan townspeople to find some dignity in a. When i first saw matewan written and directed by john sayles on cable tv 1987 or 88 i was mesmerized instantly by the the look of the movie cinematography by haskell wexler.

It is located off main street in matewan. Felts and 12 of his men were murdered by a group of armed men led by sheriff sid hatfield.