RIP Corp #6: Cosplay Cops and Special Ops: Baldwin-Felts and the West Virginia Mine War

The Battle of Matewan, also known as the Matewan Massacre, took place on May 19, 1920. It’s a significant part of the history of the West Virginia Mine Wars. The shootout claimed ten lives: three residents of Matewan and seven employees of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, a private security firm that among other things worked for coal operators throughout West Virginia. That day lives in infamy in both Appalachian and American labor history. But Baldwin-Felts doesn’t really live on in the public record. Which is weird, because for miners and organizers trying to build union power in the West Virginia coal fields, Baldwin-Felts was synonymous with the enemy.