Interview with Nellie Gibson, Victor Gibson, July 27, 1987

Interview Summary

Nellie Gibson is the daughter of Perry Adkins, the union supporter who was killed in the Henry Clay strike on Marrowbone Creek in 1934. She recounts in detail the events surrounding his death. She states that the sheriff had picked out her father as the one to shoot. Victor Gibson describes the existence of a "hit list" that the sheriff possessed that listed all the names of the local union leaders. Nellie Gibson talks about the hard times her family experienced after her father's death. Occasionally they would receive a small amount of money from Sam Caddy of UMWA District 30. She also discusses her family's reaction when her brother Edgel decided to go to work as a non-union small coal operator. Both Gibsons talk about the intense divisions the union caused between the "rednecks" (union supporters) and the "yellow dogs" (company supporters). Victor Gibson's grandmother was "turned out" of the Old Regular Baptist Church because she was a union supporter. Both Gibsons also recount the story of a black miner who shot a white man at Clyde Childers' store at Wolfpit. A group of white men snuck the black miner out of town on a train because another group of whites planned to lynch him. The Gibsons also talk at length about their experience living in Michigan next door to a Polish family who at first called the Gibsons "dirty hillbillies," but eventually became friends.

Interview Keyword

"Rednecks" Elkhorn Coal Field Marrowbone Creek (Ky.) Murder of Perry Adkins Racism Sam Caddy Unionization United Mine Workers of America "Yellow dogs" Sheriffs Perry Adkins Michigan Blacklisting, Labor Shooting

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Coal miners Coal miners--Kentucky--Elkhorn City Coal miners--Kentucky--Pike County Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Elkhorn City Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Pike County Gibson, Nellie Gibson, Nellie--Interviews Gibson, Victor Gibson, Victor--Interviews Pike County (Ky.) Pike County (Ky.)--Social life and customs Fathers Death Mothers Coal mines and mining United Mine Workers of America Violence Coal mines Coal mines and mining--Kentucky Collective bargaining--Coal mining industry Pikeville (Ky.) Protest movements Strikebreakers Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining Strikes and lockouts--Kentucky Coal miners--Labor unions

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.