The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

September 2, 2010

Labor History Week celebrations will start on Saturday

By Sarah Plummer Register-Herald Reporter

As the result of a resolution passed by the Legislature in March, Labor History Week invits celebrations to honor the state’s significant involvement in national labor history.

“Labor Day is an opportunity to remember the sacrifices and contributions that working men and women have made to the quality of life we enjoy today. Thanks to this resolution, we have an even greater opportunity to honor workers,” Kenny Perdue of West Virginia AFL-CIO said.

To kick off Labor History Week, the Whipple Country Store and Appalachian Heritage Museum in Scarbro will celebrate with music, food and complimentary tours of the museum from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Anyone wanting to play a musical instrument and sing during the event is welcome to come and take the stage.

“We are promoting the history program in the education system. During the event, we will offer a somewhat different tour of the museum. We usually cater to families and children, but with many United Mine Workers attending the event, we will try to acclimate the tour,” Joy Lynn, director and curator of the museum, said.

Lynn said the museum, an original company store built in 1890, strives to give visitors a visual of what living in a coal camp was like from the 1890s through the 1930s.  “The company store, built by coal baron Justus Collins, offers daily tours from May through November. Visitors will see a hand-operated freight elevator, the original post office and original telephone operator stations. There is a secret second floor with original alarm system and a third-floor ballroom.”

Saturday’s event, she said, will introduce the pre-1935 labor history and allow those attending to learn, explore and converse about labor history. The museum, with coal mining exhibits and Fayette County memorabilia, focuses on “incorporating the history of the family unit in coal camps into the tours. It is about how life was and how people took care of each other.”

The Whipple Country Store, Lynn added, “is one of the few remaining company stores of its size. Early coal culture shows that the people of West Virginia were truly grassroots, pushing forward during hard times and sharing our state’s national resources with the nation. We always let’s students who visit the museum know that they have the things they do because of our labor history.”

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Students in grades K-12 can enter a poster contest sponsored by a coalition of union members, educators and historians as a part of Labor History Week. Cash prizes will be awarded to winners. Teachers of winners will also receive cash for their classrooms. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 17. For an application and contest rules, contact the West Virginia AFL-CIO at 304-344-3557.

 — E-mail: splummer@register-herald.com

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