Interview with Bruce Stephens, Jr., August 18, 1987

Interview Summary

Bruce Stephens, Jr., an attorney for the Kentucky River Coal Company, discusses the Roving Pickets Movement in Perry and Letcher counties in Kentucky. He maintains that this was a last-ditch effort by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to organize eastern Kentucky. He asserts that the union publicly denied any connection with the Roving Pickets by saying that the UMWA could not be associated with the violence and illegal activities perpetrated by the pickets. Stephens states that if the union had publicly acknowledged it was sponsoring the roving pickets' movement, it would have been open to lawsuits by coal companies. In fact, he remembers that on at least two occasions coal companies successfully sued the union for damages to company property caused by roving pickets.

Other topics Mr. Stephens discusses in this interview include economic development in eastern Kentucky, the region's future, and the need for improvement in public education. Mr. Stephens is pessimistic about eastern Kentucky ever being able to attract industry other than coal mining. Rather than trying to attract new industry, Stephens believes that eastern Kentucky should place even more emphasis on coal, the one resource it has in abundance. To improve education Stephens suggest that changes should be made in the election process of school board members, including requiring board members to have a college education.

Interview Keyword

Berman Gibson Education industrial development Roving Pickets United Mine Workers of America

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Coal miners Coal mines and mining Coal mines and mining--Appalachian Region Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History Stephens, Bruce Stephens, Bruce--Interviews

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Interview Usage

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