Solidarity Supper, Storytelling, & Songs
Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021, 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Join us at Big Laurel for a delicious, home cooked, locally sourced meal and an afternoon of traditional folk music and stories about West Virginia and coal mining history.
September 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, one of the largest armed uprisings in the country. This uprising and the West Virginia Mine Wars were an important part of West Virginia's history, as well as the country’s labor organizing movement.
Musicians, historians, and storytellers will share live performances with unique perspectives of the West Virginia Mine Wars, Appalachia’s coal mining history, and key players and activists who were part of these stories.
by Carrie and Michael Kline, Ginny Ayers, and Tom Breiding.
Carrie and Michael, of podcast "Talking Across the Lines," bring listeners on a musical journey through centuries of Appalachian history. The Klines weave West Virginia stories and folklore with spine tingling harmonies on voice and guitar. As two people absorbed in the study of oral tradition, they visit with old-time singers and tellers living in the Appalachian region. Singing to audiences of all ages, the Klines perform in a variety of situations, from classrooms to prisons, from coffeehouses to picket lines. Read more about them here!
Co-author, along with her father Lon Savage, of Never Justice, Never Peace: Mother Jones and the Miner Rebellion at Paint and Cabin Creeks, Ginny shares the integral role Mother Jones and other historic figures played during the coal miners' struggle for justice. Check out their Facebook page for more info!
Tom's music was an integral part of the UMWA's nine-year fight to secure the pensions and health care benefits of 80,000 American coal miners and their families. Standing side by side with International President Cecil E. Roberts, Tom performed his original rally songs on the streets in front of coal company corporate buildings across the U.S., at fairgrounds and marches throughout Appalachia, and ultimately before 10,000 at the steps of the United States Capitol Building. Learn more here!
