Richard L. Davis and the Color Line in Ohio Coal

Born in Roanoke County, Virginia, on the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation, Richard L. Davis was an early mine labor organizer in Rendville, Ohio. One year after the 1884 Great Hocking Valley Coal Strike, which lasted nine months, Davis wrote the first of many letters to the National Labor Tribune and the United Mine Workers Journal. One of two African Americans at the founding convention of United Mine Workers of America in 1890, he served as a member of the National Executive Board in 1886–97. Davis called upon white and black miners to unite against wage slavery. This biography provides a detailed portrait of one of America’s more influential labor organizers.

Frans H. Doppen is a professor of social studies education and chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Frans H. Doppen
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 192
Bibliographic Info: 29 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6739-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2667-3
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies

Table of Contents

Preface  1
Introduction  7
1—Richard L. Davis  15
2—Rendville  22
3—The Great Hocking Valley Strike  38
4—A Year to Remember  58
5—The Road to Prominence  70
6—A Year of Transition  104
7—National Recognition  115
8—A Private in the Ranks  131
9—A Life of Devotion  143
Chapter Notes  153
Bibliography  175
Index  181