Interview with Ernest Helton, July 19, 1987

Interview Summary

During the early 1960s Ernest Helton worked in various coal mines in eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia during the time of the Roving Pickets. Helton was a union miner and at a local union meeting in Buchanan County, Virginia two men from Hazard, Kentucky convinced the Virginia miners to shut down a non-union mine in Buchanan County. Although the president of the local union felt that it was wrong, the miners went anyway. Helton recalls the trouble that ensued as the operator pulled a gun on the pickets as they approached the mine. Helton also discusses the transformation of the coal industry since the time he started working. He describes Appalachian life when he was young, and the experience of life in a coal camp

Interview Keyword

coal camp life Coal Mining Roving Pickets United Mine Workers of America violence

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Coal miners Coal mines and mining Coal mines and mining--Appalachian Region Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History Helton, Ernest Helton, Ernest--Interviews

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.