In celebration of the 100 anniversary of the Paint Creek - Cabin Creek Strike, West Virginia Archives and History held a panel discussion on the strike on September 22, 2012.
During the year-long strike, martial law enforced by the West Virginia National Guard was declared three times and dozens of civilians were tried by military commissions. The strike also included the house arrest and detainment of labor activist Mother Jones and use of the infamous Bull Moose Special, a machine-gun-equipped and armored train that fired into a tent camp of striking miners and their families. The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike drew national attention and resulted in a U.S. Senate investigation into conditions in the area.
Kenneth R. Bailey is a graduate of West Virginia Institute of Technology (now WVU Tech), Marshall University, and The Ohio State University, from which he received a Ph.D. in 1976. He is retired Dean of the College of Business, Humanities and Sciences and Emeritus Professor of History and Geography at WVU Tech. Bailey is the author of Kanawha County Public Library: A History (2004), Alleged Evil Genius: The Life and Times of Judge James H. Ferguson (2006), Raising the Bar: A History of the West Virginia Bar Association (2007), and Mountaineers are Free: A History of the West Virginia National Guard (1979, revised and expanded 2008). He has also written numerous articles that have been published in West Virginia History.
Fred A. Barkey received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Marshall University, and he earned his Ph.D. in history with a concentration in United States labor history from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. Professor emeritus at West Virginia Graduate College, he also has taught history at the University of Charleston and the Institute for Labor Studies at West Virginia University. He was named a Danforth Associate in recognition of his outstanding college teaching. Barkey is the author of Cinder Heads in the Hills: The Belgian Window Glass Workers of West Virginia (1988), Working Class Radicals: The Socialist Party in West Virginia, 1898-1920 (2012), and articles for several publications, including West Virginia History and Goldenseal.
Paul Nyden has been a reporter for the Charleston Gazette for 30 years and has won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award and three first-place reporting awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors. In 1974, he completed his Ph.D. dissertation, "Miners for Democracy: Struggle in the Coalfields," at Columbia University.
