Battle of Blair Mountain Monument Proposal
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What was the Battle at Blair Mountain? In August of 1921, amidst increasing tension between the
Baldwin Felts detectives (a private security organization often tasked with strike breaking. Similar to the Pinkerton’s), the National Guard, and the striking coal workers, a rejected petition to the local county for better working conditions and the end of martial law caused 7000 miners to march. By the 31st, they were being pushed back by the sheriff ’s department and the private guards (holding fortified positions), the ensuing battle lasted 5 days, claimed the lives of 100 miners and another 985 arrested. It was stopped by federal troops and is still the largest civil conflict since the US Civil War and was the only recorded use of air strikes against US civilians.
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Why should this monument be made? Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the attitude the public has had towards workers uniting has been steadily dropping. Unionization rates are at an all time low. And in states such as west Virginia, the poverty rate is gradually getting higher and higher. With ongoing rampant union-busting from companies such as Amazon, Nabisco, and Delta Airlines, it is important that the working man has their voice heard and no amount of retaliatory action from companies should be tolerated. There’s a reason why unionization rates and real wages are connected. It is important that unions cam back into the national discussion, not as a boogeyman but as a tool for the workers
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Location A: Horizon Hall is by far the best place on campus for a monument dedicated to the Strikers. Horizon houses a solid chunk of the humanities classes including the History, Sociology, and Anthropology departments. It’s outside the Johnson Center giving it both high traffic and visibility, and it be easy to put up given is still ongoing outside of Horizon Hall.
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Location B: Where else in the entirety of the US would a monument to the sacrifice of 100 miners be more fitting than of the very place their bravery was tested. West Virginia might be a challenge given the state’s much more conservative leaning, but i have no doubt it could spawn discourse or even motivate higher approval of unions. Plus many families in the county may have had grandparents that fought in the 5 day skirmish. Would it not be our imperative to honor their struggle?
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Final Design Proposal
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What is the design? The Monument is a large circle, with a pile of a 100 pickaxes, each one representing a miner that payed the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow workers. The Circle is divided into 5 sections of equal length. Each section discussing a day during the battle, the effects they had on the tide of battle, and listing off the casualties for that day. It will encourage visitors to walk through in a circle reading about the events that led to these 100 pickaxes.
GMU Monument Only: For the Monument next to Horizon Hall, due to size restraints. Only the pile of Pickaxes will
The First Rough Draft was discarded on the basis of it coming of more like authoritarian displays of machismo than it did a proper tribute to the miners It didn’t get the message across well.
Rough Drafts and Other Proposals
Encountered the same issue with the First Rough Draft. The Second Rough Draft seemed like it was freezing the spectacle of the moment rather than a true tribute to the miners.
The Third Draft is finally where the idea started to take shape, the circle and the idea of having the events of the day and the list of casualties took form but the biggest distinction between the final proposal and the 3rd draft was the fact that the statue in the middle being simply a pile of rubble and a single pickaxe. It didn’t really help
However, there were still considerations that had to be accounted for during this draft. Would we add the names of the 985 people who were arrested after the battle? What exactly would each day-panel say, How would they be framed? Should it be based on sequence of events or Cause and Effect? What material would the walls even be made out of? All of these would have to be answered before we can break ground.