West Virginia

We’re extremely excited about this new artifact loan from museum supporter Eddie Harless: a genuine red miner’s bandana from the Mine Wars era! We only know of one other such bandana on public display, at the West Virginia State Museum. Red bandanas were a symbol of union solidarity during the Mine Wars era.

During the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, which saw two irregular armies fighting without issued uniforms, the unionist miners identified themselves with red bandanas while the “defensive” forces positioned along the Spruce Fork ridge line (including Blair Mountain) wore white armbands. These bandanas gave rise to the slang term “rednecks”, referring to the multiracial, multiethnic collective that rose up in solidarity with each other to fight for their right to unionize...
https://wvminewars.org/news/banebandana

- Sanders speaks with staff at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, WV, (Mingo County) during his recent tour of the area.
https://wvminewars.org/