Which side are you on? The closing shot of Harlan County is people coming out of the coal mines. I saw people really standing up for what they believed in. From the heights, we immediately crash to the lowest point when 23-year-old Lawrence Jones is murdered by the company gun thugs, leaving a 16-year-old wife and infant child. Barbara Kopple: Yes and know that if you are passionate enough about it, people will help you. What happened to Lawrence Jones wife Harlan County? William "Bill" Henry Bruner Junior, 77, of Henryville, IN, passed away at 6:48 PM on Friday, August 28, 2020, at Baptist Health Floyd in New Albany, IN. In March of 1974, the UMWA invited an independent group to investigate the strike. Despite headway by the unions, the battle for Harlan County between labor and capital continued. [4]:5688 Their attempts at strikes, while weak in surrounding counties, were utter failures in Harlan, where only a fraction of the workforce walked out in 1931 and 1932. The union organized a divestment campaign, "Dump Duke," in which people were encouraged to sell any stock in Duke Power Company in May of 1974. WILLIAM BRUNER OBITUARY. My songs always goes to the underdog to the worker. 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.. The miners revival, led by the UMWA, came in the wake of Franklin Roosevelts election in 1933 and in their belief that only their union might save them. Barbara Kopple: No, I never thought about it costing. By the end of the campaign the miners had been subjected to over 90 arrests and 40 acts of violence. In the films most self-reflective momenta pre-dawn scenethe camera is knocked over by the company thugs, though we know nothing of the follow-up. The incidents involved coal miners and union organizers on one side, and coal firms and law enforcement officials. Kopple unfolds the story with ellipses, flashbacks and digressions. On February 16, 1931, to maximize profits, the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association cut miners' wages by 10%. Within 3 weeks a tentative deal had been reached between the UMW and the majority of mine owners. Marshals office is situated. Shortly after the end of the strike, the UMW faced another national obstacle when their contracts across the country expired. Here is an edited version of that conversation. He works in Atlanta, GA and 4 other locations and specializes in Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Spine Surgery. In addition to his other wholesome activities, he's on the board of trustees of Freedom House, along with other freedom-lovers like Kenneth Adelman and Malcolm Forbes. Here is an edited version of that conversation. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Mr. Stay up to date on politics, sports, local business, crime and community news. A striking coal miner was in critical condition last night in Harlan County, Ky., after being struck in the head by a shotgun blast. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. The song Which Side Are You On? became the anthem of a reborn United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union in the 1930s, then an anthem for all workers a reflection of working-class consciousness in the turbulent New Deal years. The Most Famous Person Born in Harlan, Kentucky is Nick Lachey. IN Bill Rogge . This is based on the events in Harlan County, Ky. during the early 1970's strike. They had invited executives from Duke Power and Eastover Mining to meet with them, but they refused. 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. Violence continued against the workers and community. Bill Bruner. On May 5, 1931 the pot boiled over; in Harlan County Kentucky, heavily armed deputies and company men, called gun thugs by miners, confronted disgruntled union men on a road near Evarts. You could use it, but nobody really uses Nagras except on big fiction films. Throughout the campaign, strikers and supporters sang songs such as "Which Side Are You On?" What happened to Bill Bruner . Follow, Now on HBO/Crave, Oscar nominee ALL THAT BREATHES is feat of visual poetry about how we treat our fellow animals and humans https://povmagazine.com/all-that-breathes-review-a-wing-and-a-prayer/, Pamela Anderson enjoyed a homecoming for the Canadian premiere of PAMELA, A LOVE STORY in Toronto last night https://povmagazine.com/pamela-anderson-attends-canadian-premiere-of-documentary-in-toronto/, Kingston Canadian Film Festival announces livline-up of homegrown favourites for #KCFF23. There, miners and union organizers fought the coal bosses for nearly a decade for the right to have a union in a county where all but three incorporated towns were owned by the coal companies. "Harlan County" won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1977, but it had been years since the film was shown on the big screen. The NLRB Administrative Law Judge, Manrice Bush, concluded, "From the record as a whole, I find and conclude that Eastover deliberately insisted on the nonacceptable no strike clause for the purpose of avoiding coming to terms with the Respondent union on any kind of collective bargaining agreement.". The right to form a local of the United Mine Workers (UMW) union. The killing was a turning point. In Harlan County there wasn't no neutral. For one thing, the chronology is messy. Maybe shot all to hell. Within Kentucky, more than 96% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Harlan. The union agreed not to authorize a strike against Eastover between now and the time a new contract agreement is reached. Kopple trained in the cinema verit tradition as an intern for Albert and David Maysles on films such as SalesmanandGimme Shelterand later on the Vietnam activist filmsWinter SoldierandHearts and Minds. The group met with approximately 50 members of the community and toured the area. Billy Carroll Bruner, 39, Evarts, was formally charged yesterday with murder by State Police in the death of Lawrence Dean Jones, 23, Verda. California labor activist Caroline Decker first became involved in union activities during the Harlan County War, when she and her sister participated in relief activities for striking miners. You may only read this site if you've purchased, Posted by: Mike Meyer at June 13, 2007 12:42 AM, Posted by: Donald Johnson at June 13, 2007 09:49 AM, Posted by: Ajit at June 13, 2007 01:31 PM. I went to wikipedia to look for the quote from Brecht's The Jewish Wife about how character was a thing that could be measured in units of time, but I couldn't find it. I guess also because I was doing sound. On top of that, we learn later, the . Which side are you on? That was the original. I've checked, and incredibly enough, it's the same person. See, the pissants carrying offa goddamn mans brain. Hes driving the pickup and there is a passenger in the pickup and youre learning in from the passenger side. The Park County Sheriff's Office, . I didnt get hurt because they kicked the Nagra. Eastover and Duke brought in replacement workers at the beginning of the strike. -Who shot him? Plagued by evictions from company houses, no other job possibilities, and even starvation, miners and their families were no longer able . Read today's latest news headlines from Lexington, Kentucky and Fayette County. She talks about incidents of violence during the standoff. Then theres the problem of Kopples approach to the material, a hybrid of advocacy and observation that makes the film seem as though its making up its rules for reality as it goes along. Working miners made as little as eighty cents a day and worked only a few days a month.". POV is Canada's premiere documentary magazine in print and online. Also, the organizers told me way after the film that there had been a price put on my head to shoot me. I can't understand how people sell out so completely. Wow. 7 Who was killed in the Battle of Harlan? [4]:81123, Where the NIRA had been toothless in Harlan, the Wagner Act of 1935 proved itself a far greater thorn in the side of Harlan County's mine operators. [4]:39 The citizens of Harlan, for their part, lost any illusions they may have held about impartiality in law enforcement. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Mineworkers and their families in Harlan County, Kentucky, have blockaded the railroad tracks of a deadbeat employer. This was on a main road. It had a great impression on me throughout the rest of my career. Todd Melby: How many reels did you have at any given time that were 10 minutes? https://povmagazine.com/kingston-canadian-film-festival-announces-2023-line-up/. Without external sources, viewers are unlikely to see the causal links between the 1968 Farmington Mine disaster, the murder of Joseph Yablonsky and the 1972 election of reformist Arthur Miller, whose efforts to bring the Brookside miners into the national miners union precipitated the strike. Barbara Kopple: I dont know. Blair. Eastover also hired prisoners to 'provide security' in and around the mine. Subscribe today and get a yearlong print and digital subscription. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. All Rights Reserved. [4]:32. [15] The 1976 documentary film Harlan County, USA, winner of the 1977 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, focuses on similar labor violence of the 1970s but refers to the 1930s violence as context. Her presence, and the presence of her video camera, is believed to be a factor in decreasing the violence used against the strikers. Neurological Surgery Orthopedic Spine Surgery . We dont see you, but we can hear you interact. Jones, who died about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, was allegedly shot by Bruner late last Saturday afternoon on Jones Creek at Verda . After a month of negotiations with no success, the 180 miners walked off the job and began what would be a 13-month-long strike on 26 July 1973. -What happened? Still, there is a spirit that lives in Harlan, along with the ghosts of battles past. The SLU was largely seen as serving the interests of the mine owners rather than the workers. She was the daughter of a Kentucky coal miner and married to Sam Reece, an organizer for the radical National Miners Union, then embroiled in the bloody 1931 Harlan County War. See the wiki page Kentucky Probate Records for . I probably still am. Bill was a 1961 Meade County High School graduate and a member of First Baptist Church Henryville. The smaller but more passionate NMU made greater relief efforts than the UMW, opening several soup kitchens in the county. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Dr. Harlan J. Bruner is a Neurosurgeon in Lawrenceville, GA. Find Dr. Bruner's phone number, address, insurance information and more. Whats not good about it, then? Eastover agreed to rehire the 59 employees who had gone on strike and been dismissed. After the railroad arrived in 1911 . Todd Melby: If I remember correctly, one of the very close opening shots is the miner going into the coal mine on a horizontal conveyor belt. Arnold Miller won the Miners for Democracy and his first promise was to organize the unorganized.. The union staff, now led by a Montana official, Tony Boyle, encamped in the union offices and rarely ventured into Appalachia, where the depression of the 30s seemed never to have ended. Braden, M. (1973, November, 09). The county will change the lawsthey have . I didnt know it. On May 5, 1931 the pot boiled over; in Harlan County Kentucky, heavily armed deputies and company men, called "gun thugs" by miners, confronted disgruntled union men on a road near Evarts. 1.1%. Harlan is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. What happens to atoms during chemical reaction? Bill was retired from Kroger and was a member of Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The union, with all that it promised, is gone. Todd Melby: And what would you tell young filmmakers or young non-fiction folks? Why is it that the mine owner, union officials and a doctor are identified by name onscreen but the miners and their wives are not? Is it easy to get an internship at Microsoft? POV Magazine But this grand jury was Harlan County, and it seems like despite the fact we won a contract, not that much has changed here. Eastover agreed to drop all charges against the striking miners in court and before the National Labor Relations Board. They were talking about it and I was able to raise $12,000 as a loan from somebody and off I went to film the Miners for Democracy. A goddamn fella when he tried to do somethin. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. The name comes from the nearly century-long and sometimes violent struggle between coal companies and workers seeking to unionize. Harlan County was fighting for the right to have a union. No one knows who fired the first shot but when it was over four were deadthree deputies and one miner with several more wounded. We would drive to Tennessee to get the film. Todd Melby: The first time that you interacted with the gun thug who is the barrel-chested guy in a pickup truck. The 1973 UMWA Convention in Pittsburgh was a celebration of workers democracy and workers power. On 24 August 1974 a mine supervisor named Billy C. Bruner shot and killed a 23-year-old striker, Lawrence D. Jones. <p>Mr. Miller attended a rally last Thursday after a parade in Harlan.The strikers received some of the highest strike benefits ever paid by the U.M.W.$80 a week for a single man, $90 for a couple and $100 for a family. As Basil Collins got out of his truck, you could hear the guns clicking, the safeties being taken off. Heres just one example, from around the 80-minute mark of the film, when two young men show the filmmakers the place where their friend was shot minutes ago. Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky). What are the physical state of oxygen at room temperature? [6][7][8] The most violent attack by mine workers occurred on May 5, 1931 and became known as the Battle of Evarts. , with all that it promised, is gone November, 09.. 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