The Matewan Drama Group performed its annual reenactment of the Battle of Matewan, also known as the Matewan Massacre on May 14. The reenactment commemorates the day when local townspeople and coal miners, who were members of the United Mine Workers of America, and members of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency conducted a deadly shootout in the streets of Matewan.
The Matewan Drama Group once again presented its annual reenactment of the Battle of Matewan which commemorates the deadly May 19, 1920, shootout between union miners and enforcement officers hired by mine owners and operators.
“What we are doing here today is not a celebration,” said Matewan Drama Group Director Donna Paterino. “It is a commemoration. We want to keep our history alive. We want to remember the sacrifices that were made on that day.
The Battle of Matewan or the Matewan Massacre, as it also has become to be known, was sparked by tensions between miners who had become members of the United Mine Workers of America and mine operators. This event, and its subsequent Battle of Blair Mountain, led to the reformation of workers’ rights and the creation of many labor laws still in existence.
On May 19, 1920, agents of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, hired by the coal companies, arrived it Matewan following large membership campaign conducted by the UMWA, in which 300 miners signed union cards, to enforce what is known as “yellow dog contracts” and to evict union miners and their families from company owned housing. The yellow dog contracts allowed miners to work in the mines and to rent company housing; however, they stipulated that the miners would give up their right to join the labor union.
The result of the Battle of Matewan was the death of 10 men — seven Baldwin-Felts detectives and three local residents including both coal miners and townspeople. Among the local dead was then Matewan Mayor Cabell Testerman. Five others were wounded.
This event plunged Matewan and southern West Virginia on the national stage and gave a voice to those fighting for better working conditions, increased quality of living and improved workers’ rights, Paterino said.
She said the Matewan Drama Group held its first reenactment in May 2000 and is currently in its 22nd season. The reenactment has been presented multiple times each year since then during special festivals held in Matewan. The only break in the reenactment was May 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic closures prevented the performance from being conducted.
“We are in our 22nd year and we have someone here that has been with us almost from the beginning,” Paterino said. “Christopher Grey has been portraying Mayor Cabell Testerman for 21 seasons.”
She presented Grey with a plaque to recognize his long-standing commitment to the Matewan Drama Group.
Paterino said success of the reenactment is because of the longevity of many of the group’s members and their willingness to mentor new and younger members of the cast and to educate them about the American labor struggles during the early 1900s.
