Talk:Matewan massacre

Article should be renamed to the NPOV Battle of Matewan. "Matewan massacre" is POV in that it takes the side of Baldwin-Felts, and implies that the coal miners "massacred" Baldwin-Felts agents instead of being justified in defending their homes.

That is a good point about POV, however, if that is the way it is referred to in history textbooks and articles than I think that may count for something as well. Are both names featured in history books or articles? Matterson52 14:28, 27 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In academic work, the incident is generally referred to as the Battle of Matewan. The Matewan Massacre is the term used, strangely, by both sides as a way to present a non-neutral view. To supporters of the Baldwin-Felts agency and the coal companies, Baldwin-Felts agents were "massacred". To those on the side of organized labor, Mayor Testerman and the two miners were "massacred". The two major published accounts on the West Virginia Mine War of 1920-21, Lon Savage's Thunder in the Mountains and Robert Shogan's The Battle of Blair Mountain both intentionally do not refer to the incident as a massacre. Savage labels it the "Battle of Matewan", while Shogan refers to it as the "Matewan station confrontation". I feel that Matewan massacre is definitely the wrong title so I will be moving the article to "Battle of Matewan" as soon as I post this. Cool3 21:38, 22 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]