Blair Mountain is in the heart of West Virginia coal country

Blair Mountain was the site of the biggest battle on American soil since the Civil War. But the coal companies don't want you to know that.

Blair Mountain is in the heart of West Virginia coal country, and back in 1921, the big coal companies owned those towns. They owned the schools, the police, the political officials, and the hospitals. They owned miners' lives, and they killed anyone who crossed them -- particularly those who tried to organize unions.

In 1921, ten thousand miners fought back for their right to unionize. They marched on Blair Mountain and were met by a private army hired by the coal companies that included World War I bombers.

Outgunned, the miners eventually lost the Battle of Blair Mountain, but the clash became an iconic moment in the fight for workers' rights nationwide.

Ninety years later, a notoriously anti-worker coal company -- Massey Energy -- is trying to erase the history of Blair Mountain by dynamiting this battle site. Unless the mountain gains status as a historic landmark, it will be blown to smithereens.

It's called "mountaintop removal," and it's bad for jobs and worse for the environment. Here's how it works: In mountaintop removal regions in West Virginia, coal companies like Massey detonate dynamite as powerful as the bomb used in Hiroshima once a week. The constant explosions put neighboring communities at risk for flash flooding, poison waterways with toxic sludge, and can even send debris hurtling into nearby buildings.

Mountaintop removal also drastically reduces the need for human miners. So as companies like Massey devastate the environment in West Virginia, they also devastate the regional economy.

And Blair Mountain is next on Massey Energy's list of mountains to destroy.

Back in 2008, Blair Mountain was listed as a protected site by the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). But after coal companies contested the decision, the NRHP de-listed Blair Mountain last year.

Kenny King has lived near Blair Mountain since 1962; he's been spearheading the preservationist work of the Friends of Blair Mountain for almost twenty years now. Massey Energy wants Americans to forget about Blair Mountain, but Kenny won't let that happen. He needs our help -- otherwise coal companies could start blasting Blair Mountain within weeks.

Please sign Kenny's petition asking the NRHP to re-list Blair Mountain as a protected site. Don't let Massey Energy destroy the mountain where workers died for their right to unionize 90 years ago:

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-coal-companies-from-erasing-labor-union-history

Thanks for taking action,

- Patrick and the Change.org team

P.S. From June 4th until June 11th, scholars, artists, union workers, activists and community members will hold the 50-mile March on Blair Mountain, a solidarity event beginning in Charleston and ending with a huge rally at Blair Mountain. If you're interested in being a part of it, click here for more info:

http://marchonblairmountain.org/