COAL COUNTRY: 11.Harlan_striking_miner2.jpg

Striking coal miner passing time at the public square in Harlan, Kentucky, on the hundredth day of a coal strike, 1978. Harlan has a long and storied history of coal strikes and violence dating back to the 1930's, when the song “Which Side Are You On?” became the anthem of a reborn United Mine Workers union. As recently as 2019 miners in Harlan County occupied a railroad track to halt a coal train until they got paid the back wages they were owed for loading that train. There is no longer a miner's union in Kentucky. Jon Chase photo
11.Harlan_striking_miner2.jpg

Striking coal miner passing time at the public square in Harlan, Kentucky, on the hundredth day of a coal strike, 1978. Harlan has a long and storied history of coal strikes and violence dating back to the 1930's, when the song “Which Side Are You On?” became the anthem of a reborn United Mine Workers union. As recently as 2019 miners in Harlan County occupied a railroad track to halt a coal train until they got paid the back wages they were owed for loading that train. There is no longer a miner's union in Kentucky. Jon Chase photo