4/20/2023 0 Comments 7 days to die coal![]() ![]() The clear threat of violence led some African American families to leave the mining communities of Western Kentucky for areas such as Louisville. The concern of violence was so robust, that in the earliest reports of the explosion, journalists of the Hopkinsville Kentuckian suspected the explosion was due to someone tampering with wires in the mine. The violence led to martial law being enforced in Clay during the weeks leading up to the No. The Louisville Courier Journal reported that on August 3, 1917, three union miners were arrested in Clay by soldiers of Company C, Kentucky National Guard after firing “several hundred shots” at soldiers guarding Diamond mine near Providence, Kentucky. With tensions already high, the introduction of strike breakers led to frustration from union workers, and incidents of violence became more and more common. African Americans were reported to be brought in as strike breakers in multiple coal mining communities within the region, including Clay. ![]() The community of Clay was affected by these strikes when the United Mine Workers union declared a strike at mine No. Prior to the incident, mining communities in Western Kentucky were experiencing conflict between the coal companies and miners’ unions. 91 men escaped the mine without serious injury, including 43 men who, under the direction of Claude Bordis, remained in an unaffected entry and were rescued three and a half hours after the explosion. This event led to the death of 62 of the 153 men underground at the time. Historical Marker #2579 in Clay, Kentucky recognizes the catastrophic explosion in the Western Kentucky Coal Company’s mine No.7 at about 7:40 AM on August 4th, 1917. ![]()
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