magazine, 88 pages
Spring 2020 issue
published by West Virginia Division of Culture and History
Stan Bumgardner, editor

The Spring 2020 Goldenseal cover story is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the “Matewan Massacre” (now more commonly called The Battle of Matewan) a deadly shootout in Mingo County, West Virginia, between labor activists and Baldwin-Felts coal-mine guards on May 19, 1920. Ten people were killed in broad daylight, leading to the revenge killing of Matewan police chief Sid Hatfield and his sidekick Ed Chambers over a year later. Hatfield’s assassination prompted a march armed coal miners on Logan and Mingo counties, resulting in the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain—our nation’s largest armed insurrection since the Civil War. Articles and rare photos examine the Matewan shootout, speculation on who fired the first shot, the role of Baldwin-Felts agent C. E. Lively, the widow of both Hatfield and Matewan Mayor Cabell Testerman, overviews of the film Matewan and McDowell County native Jean Battlo’s play “Terror of the Tug,” and a look at Matewan today.

Other features of the new issue include a recap of the 2019 Vandalia Gathering and profiles of the Weirton Serbian Picnic Grounds Chicken Blast, 1920 advice to graduates of Clarksburg-Irving High School; Pocahontas County poet Kirk Judd; the 120-year-old Shinnston Plumbing business; May Show Maddox, “Fairmont’s Gold Star Mother” during World War II; and the Berkeley Springs’ Star Theatre.

Goldenseal, the magazine of West Virginia traditional life, is produced by the Department of Arts, Culture and History and takes its stories from the recollections of West Virginians living throughout the state. Oral history fieldwork and documentary photography result in four issues per year with articles on subjects such as labor history, folklore, music, farming, religion, traditional crafts, food, and politics.