In Episode 2 of the The Drunk Projectionist, producer and host Todd Melby interviewed Barbara Kopple about Harlan County USA, her impressive first film. He hired two drifters in a Cleveland bar, and on New Years Eve, they murdered Yablonksi, his wife, and his daughter in their beds. PROVIDER RATINGS. This gives it a little extra dollop of bleakness. Barbara Kopple's first feature film, Harlan County, USA, a chronicle of a 13-month long Brookside mine strike in the Appalachian region of East Kentucky in the early 1970s, is a great documentarythough, arguably, it's not a "good" one.. Bill Harlan: Well, let's look back 100 years: Phylloxera at the end of the 19th century, the great earthquake in SF when a lot of wines were lost in the warehouses. The 1920s, a decade of defeat for American workers everywhere, left the UMWA in a shambles. On 24 August 1974a mine supervisor named Billy C. Bruner shot and killeda 23-year-old striker, Lawrence D. Jones. Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, pictured here on Jan. 24, 2023, has authored a bill that could help incarcerated women who committed . Because the reels only recorded 10 minutes, were there times when you hesitated to turn on the camera because, Oh my God, this is costing us.. Bill Bruner is one of many veterans who has transitioned from a military career to one at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The closing shot of Harlan County is people coming out of the coal mines. Bruner joined LLNL in 2009, after retiring as a colonel from the United States Air . although I think he was mostly thinking of the assaults on character caused by an oppressive society like 1930s Germany rather than the assault on your character via the goodies you can buy if sell out. Lois Scott pulls a gun out of her dress and said something like, I started out with a switch, but now Im carrying a gun. She kept it between her breast in her bra! Computer and Internet Use. Sheriff Blair was voted out of office in 1933 and died in 1934, replaced by T. R. Middleton, a candidate who ran on a pro-union platform. This is based on the events in Harlan County, Ky. during the early 1970's strike. Martin County On February 16, 1931, to maximize profits, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%. [Bloody] Harlan County was happening, so I went and stayed there for 13 months. Cal Winslow is the author of Radical Seattle: The General Strike of 1919, along with Labors Civil War in California. In 1959, when Lewis retired, the union had been reduced to 180,000 members, and the southern coalfields, Harlan included, were non-union once again. He is editor of E.P. Although CWP may share many of the symptoms of emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis (which are also known as COPD), CWP is not COPD and is not treated like COPD. Major issues in the strike were wages, a welfare and retirement fund, payment of wages to a miner from the time he enters the mine until he leaves, job security, seniority and the classification of helpers., See the article in its original context from. Blair. [2][3] Employees who were known by their bosses to be union members were fired and evicted from their company-owned homes. 2 How long did the Harlan County strike last? Jones, who died about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, was allegedly shot by Bruner late last Saturday afternoon on Jones Creek at Verda . Probate records are held by the Harlan County, Kentucky Genealogy Clerk of Court and are housed at the Harlan County, Kentucky Genealogy Courthouse. Although largely nonviolent, the BWC made no commitment to nonviolent discipline. They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there Youll either be a union man or a thug for J. H. Blair Which side are you on? The strikers made bumper stickers supporting their cause and drove around the community in a truck with loudspeakers to explain their grievances and hopefully gain support. Bill Bruner. What happens to atoms during chemical reaction? The UMWA also organized a march outside of Duke headquarters in North Carolina. Shortly after Jones' death, 29 August 1974, the Eastover Mining Company offered a contract to the striking workers. They believed that the strikebreakers would be more hesitant to use violence against women. 20. What a buncha Nazi evildoers! (Photo by Bill Bruner/The Flume) Hes asking you for your press pass. Within 3 weeks a tentative deal had been reached between the UMW and the majority of mine owners. [4]:67 Florence Reece, wife of organizer Sam Reece, wrote the labor standard "Which Side Are You On?". . Martin County, Kentucky Currently, Martin Countys population is one of the poorest in the United States. The Supreme Court voted 5-2 to suspend Harvey Bruner and ordered him to pay a total of $2,750 in restitution to two clients. In 1969, Tony Boyle was challenged for the UMWA presidency by Jock Yablonski, who promised democracy in the union. In a region of Ku Klux Klan activity, we see an African-American miner, waiting with two white men for treatment for black lung disease, or pneumonoconiosis, joking about brotherhood in oppression: We done make every colour when we went in. IN william F Whifinger Box 2*5. Still, there is a spirit that lives in Harlan, along with the ghosts of battles past. On top of that, we learn later, the . Billy Carroll Bruner, 39, a foreman at the Eastover mine, was wounded in the . Her presence, and the presence of her video camera, is believed to be a factor in decreasing the violence used against the strikers. The group met with approximately 50 members of the community and toured the area. Todd Melby: And what would you tell young filmmakers or young non-fiction folks? However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. You have to be on one side or the other. Barbara Kopple: The opening shot of Harlan County is going into the coal mines. The Ohio Supreme Court today suspended a Cleveland attorney for two years for committing several ethical violations, including billing a client's mother twice for round trips to Youngstown to visit his client in prison when the man was in the local county jail.. Tags: Barbara Kopple, Harlan County USA, Documentary Film, academy awards, Albert Serra Discuses 'The Death of Louis XIV', Taxi Driver: On The Set With Photographer Steve Schapiro, Episode 8: Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo, Episode 16: Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life. [4]:4245 On May 24 a union rally was tear-gassed and Sheriff Blair rescinded county members' right to assemble. During the 20th century, it was often a center of labor strife between coal mine owners and union workers, especially in the Harlan County War of the 1930s. Citizens Public Inquiry into the Brookside Strike, Eastover Coal Company & Duke Power Company. Walter Russell Mead is another. [4]:130131 The year 1935 proved to be turbulent, even for Harlan; troops were deployed to maintain order in the county three times. Billy Carroll Bruner, 39, a foreman at the Eastover mine, was wounded in the shootout and charged with the killing. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. It takes place in 1974 and follows a strike by Kentucky coal miners, as well as efforts by UMW reformers to kick out the union's corrupt president, Tony Boyle. The films very title,Harlan County,USAis emblematic of class struggle. The strikers reported attempted bribery to denounce the union, being shot at numerous times, having dynamite thrown at them, shots fired into their homes, and constant verbal threats. The 1976 documentary won an Academy Award. Use of violence was never sanctioned nor forbidden by leadership. Barbara Kopple: I guess that day was the scariest moment because I went up to one of the organizers and said, Do you think theyre going to shoot at us today?. Barbara Kopple: Yes and know that if you are passionate enough about it, people will help you. How would you describe the nature of work God gave to Adam in the Garden of Eden?He told Adam that he could eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.11. Strikers exchanged gunfire with private guards and local law enforcement; strikebreakers were set upon and beaten. The name comes from the nearly century-long and sometimes violent struggle between coal companies and workers seeking to unionize. Striking miners in the coalfields of southern West Virginia forced the Republican governor to sign a bill that allowed compensation for black lung disease. A direct deposit authorization form is a document that authorizes a third (3rd) party, usually an employer for payroll, to send money to a bank account by simply using the ABA routing and account numbers. I would ship the film out (because I didnt want anything to happen to it) to my father and then beg him to ship me more film in. who died Wednesday at Harlan Appalachian Regional Hospital from gunshot wounds. Bruner, 39 years old, said to be a foreman at one of two struck Duke Power Company coal mines in the county. POV engages filmmakers and film lovers in conversations about the art of non-fiction. She also sang it in the 70s in Harlan County. Does Kopple go overboard in portraying the Appalachian proletariat as so socially progressive? Barbara Kopple: Yes, to the picket line where they were bringing in the scabs. Then youll really be telling a story that is real and has a sense of truthfulness. This contract is a message to every nonunion coal operator in the land that coalmining families have had their fill of deathtrap mines, starvation wages and meager benefits in return for their labor.. It comes to a bill of about $20,000 a week for the national union. His Freedom House biography says he was in UMW from 1972 to 1976 and later Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the Vice President of USA, 1977 to 1981. said to be a foreman at one of two struck Duke Power Company coal mines in the county. Here are the 10 Safest Cities in Kentucky for 2021, Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Kentucky. Welcome to Beba's world: we're all just visiting. [1] The Harlan County coal miners campaigned and fought to organize their workplaces and better their wages and working conditions. Thats brain thats laying there. The workers' salaries were comparable with other miners throughout the country, so the issue of salary was not addressed. The coal miners, lean and tough from Kentucky mountain life, knew how to fight back. After nearly 16 hairs of negotiations, Mr. Usery announced at 4 A.M. that the two sides had reached agreement. The killing was a turning point. The rate of crime in Harlan County is 53.56 per 1,000 residents during a standard year. Also, in retrospect, we know that the film crew, embedded with the miners, were a shield against worse violence, though that role is never reflected upon in the film. Barbara Kopple: We were all in a meeting. . Holly Hunter and Ted Levine are the main characters. The 2000 television movie Harlan County War starred Holly Hunter. Murdered while on a picket line in Harlan County KY, After his death an agreement was signed between the miners and the union!Lawrence Dean Jones.Birth27 Aug 1950 Harlan County, Kentucky, USADeath28 Aug 1974 (aged 24) Harlan County, Kentucky, USA2 more rows Which side are you on? For the claim to greatness, lets start with a few of its indelible images: the buoyant opening shot of miners, looking like boys as they jump on a conveyer belt carrying them into the underground; the harrowed face of an old miner, animated with indignation, as he describes how the life of a mule was worth more than a mans to the owners; the vitality of union activist Lois Scott grinning as she pulls a pistol from her bra, promising to fight fire with fire; the dreadful flashes of gunfire in the pre-dawn light; a wad of a murdered mans brain tissue on the ground; an aged mother collapsing beside the open coffin of her son. My parents really helped a lot. The Harlan County War, or Bloody Harlan, was a series of coal mining-related skirmishes, executions, bombings, and strikes (both attempted and realized) that took place in Harlan County, Kentucky, during the 1930s. Todd Melby: Good. Physical removal of protesters from picket lines, weapons fired into miners' homes, verbal threats, and one murder. The smaller but more passionate NMU made greater relief efforts than the UMW, opening several soup kitchens in the county. HARLAN COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - 3/22/2022 Update: Officials with the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet confirm to WYMT James Brown's body was found approximately three miles into the mine and . On July 7, a group of deputies, enraged at a public celebration of the Wagner Act, dispersed the crowd by beating several miners. And you're right, it's a great doc, and director Barbara Kopple is a cool, nice person. It had a great impression on me throughout the rest of my career. 9MM Beretta and an AK-47 style assault rifle were stolen during the robbery that happened at the Longs' house. In response to the violence, the Kentucky National Guard was called in. 82.7%. Fest to open with drama RICEBOY SLEEPS. Also, the organizers told me way after the film that there had been a price put on my head to shoot me. Bill Bruner William Herbert Bruner, Jr., 82, of Owensboro, died January 6, 2021 at Norton Hospital in Louisville, KY. In doing so, they would also ensure two secondary objectives: establishing a worker's Safety Committee and increased hospital and medical benefits. The hardest thing was getting funding to keep going. It was just like in the old days -- if the company kills a man, the company gets let off. Aging autocrat and UMWA president John L. Lewis agreed to allow the employers a free hand in mechanizing the mines. 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