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Old 05-02-2008, 02:26 AM
 
Location: Somewhere in Flyover country
531 posts, read 1,738,824 times
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I was wondering what you meant by "who brought them (Italians) here and why". My great-great grandfather who was Italian settled in northern WV (after working in a factory in Scranton,Pa) to work in the mines and because he had family in the area. He came to America in the 1880s from Italy. I don't remember my grandparents (didn't know my great or great-great grandparents ever mentioning the Klan. Maybe because they were fair skinned and blue eyed with red hair and probably didn't "look" Italian.
The funny thing is my mom's family,which are German and Irish,English and a small bit of Cherokee ancestry are mostly olive complexioned with darker hair!
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Old 05-02-2008, 02:51 AM
 
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The coal companies wanted slaves.
Negro's were brought out of the southern cotton plantations. Poles, Chezh's, Russians...

The americans were from a farm background and would not give up that freedom...they would not live and work under the conditions that existed in the coal camps.

Credit buying (another type of slavery) existed with the 'Coal Mine Company store, where the worker was always indebted.

Most of the italians came from Venezia, Italy...Cozenza....recruited by a priest there and sent directly to WV.
When the miners would revolt, they were kicked out of their company houses and the furniture was piled on the street. Very intimidating. Hired thugs were always enforcing the comany rules and being in the Union got you a ticket out of the house in a hurry.

As one group would revolt another was brought in from New York City to take their place.
The Italians came last..

These Italians have given our area a great gift with their presence. Russell Bonasso is one of them...Richard Pizatella too...great success's...and they are only about 3 generations away from the original immigrants. Worked and lived and were rewarded with the American dream...

It sounds as if your people were from northern Italy...lot of influence from the post Roman, european invasions there...the southern Italians feature the darker Greek complexion..
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Old 05-02-2008, 02:52 AM
 
Location: Ohio
2,175 posts, read 9,142,424 times
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One thing to remember.
There was no W.va before the Civil war period.
It was part of Virginia that didn't go along with the pro-slavery views of other Virginians. From what I have read there wasn't the slave populaton in what is now W.va as there was in the Virginia tidewater region and other areas.
It became W.va when that part of the state separated itself from the pro-slavery bunch of the rest of Virginia.
The people of W.va for generations after probably wouldn't be as inclined on the whole to be an aggressive KKK region although I am sure there were exceptions.
Even in Underground Railroad states and strong anti-slavery northern states mixed race relationships were not accepted by the majority and some KKK clans were present even in these regions by people who didn't have the same feelings for promoting equality.
I don't have any KKK stories but from reading I know they were present in even anti-slavery states if to a lesser degree and in smaller numbers.
That period of history, and the lifestyles and attitudes of the people who lived it, is interesting to me.
But I sure am glad it's over except for in the minds of some people who weren't even there and want to keep it going.
I wouldn't want to have had to fight against a cousin, brother, or even a Dad, because our views were different.
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Old 05-02-2008, 03:07 AM
 
4,714 posts, read 13,273,155 times
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Western Virginia carried an attitude of separation from the begining.
Early people were taken to the mountains, given an axe and a rifle and a woman and told to settle the areas. Driven by gunpoint to do that by the Kings Men. (soldiers).
As eastern Virginia became an English clone, real freedom to take land and opportunity lay in western Virginia.
Eastern Virginia made the laws and tried to collect the tax...both resented here.
Outbreaks occurred...the Whiskey Rebellion being the most significant...the
Alien and Sedition Act formenting that revolt.
The Civil War brought the issues to a final episode and even though Eastern Virginia had heard the cries of the electorate here and built a great Turnpike to Wheeling (Road bond of 1848) and the B&O Railroad to the west...it was too late...
Businessmen jumped in and stole the real estate...lock, stock and barrel....an entire state.
The people revolted against the drunken government and demanded schools in the 1880's and began a government here...
The last revolt took place in the 1930's when everyone changed to the Democrat party.

It's legacy is unique...a testimony that power held unchecked corrupts totally...but there's is hope...an empty hope...but there...Thanks for the platform to preach from.
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Old 05-02-2008, 03:13 AM
 
Location: Somewhere in Flyover country
531 posts, read 1,738,824 times
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I do remember my grandfather talking about the company stores,and that they were higher priced,but if you didn't buy from them,you were in danger of unemploymet. My grandparents told me the story of how one month they bought from a cheaper store and my grandfather was told if he wanted to keep his job he had to buy from the company store.
My mom's grandfather owned a small general store (not a company store as far as I know) but lost it and much of his land in the Depression. His son (my mom's father ) had to work in the mines at 15 years old. I guess in those days many young boys/men didn't get the opportunity to finish high school. They had to work to help out their families. My maternal grandfather and his next oldest brother lost their parents before they were adults so they had to support their 2 younger siblings.
I actually heard more about the KKK in PA. I heard there used to be rallys held in the mountains,but I think in PA and WV this is rare now.
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Old 05-02-2008, 03:22 AM
 
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Write those stories down for your grandchildren!

My grandfather's father lost an arm in a mine accident and could not shovel the coal.
That's why he went to work...to support the family.
He was a reader...one of the most intelligent and educated men I ever knew...Had a addictive thirst for knowledge. Very well spoken too, with the language...

During the Depression everyone had to work...survival depended on that fact and everyone helped each other.
Those coal camps were segregated, the coal owners wanted that...but the people found a way to help each other.
I've heard stories of chickens being given to families or sacks of food appearing on doorsteps...humanity existed.
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Old 05-02-2008, 07:46 AM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,414 posts, read 22,342,846 times
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Can't be any worse than where my father grew up, outside of Whiteville NC. As recently as the mid-70's, good 'ol Uncle Thurston used to sit atop the tractor cleaning his fingernails with a Bowie knife as the 'workers' gathered sweet potatoes or onions.
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Old 05-02-2008, 12:35 PM
 
312 posts, read 1,056,295 times
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DK- I agree with your father's view point, that military service does help ease racial tension. Growing up in Indiana, once the HQ of the kkk, I was isolated from blacks, and only heard negative things about them, generally. After living with many of them in the military, I was able to realize that they were human beings just like everyone else. Later in life I was able to move around in big cities where I may be the only white person around, or even the only one speaking English. Also noticed that black men who were in the service, are much more comfortable talking to me, and generally more tolerant of white people, because they see that in the big picture, we are mostly all just fellow slaves, trying to get by. That brings me back to the notion that mandatory gov. service for young people would be helpful in many ways.
While I'm on the soap box, your remarks about the coal companies importing "slaves" is not much different than what I see today, in California and now spreading out all over, with illegal aliens. Once they start organizing and making demands, the companies just look for newer illegals, who are still hungry and desperate.Now even the illegals are complaining, that companies are outsourcing work or moving to India or China, which coal companies can't do because the coal is here. It's only a matter of time before they hire illegals, I suppose.
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Old 05-02-2008, 08:35 PM
 
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One high company official said to me three years ago. "If we can't get our miners from West Virginia, we will go recruit them from the Ukraine."
He was telling me that the company mentality is the same...hasn't changed in over 100 years.
When I said 'Slaves' I meant Slaves...The company store, the company house and the job sometimes miles into the wilderness with no road...just the train track... held them in that bondage.
To work in those conditions...to sacrifice their generation for a hope that things would improve...and they did...think about it...the standard of living you enjoy and what they suffered because they were considered an expendable commodity...where a draft horse had more value...
they gave their lives in order that you could have your life....that's what ancestors do.

When I was 17, my Aunt gave me a short family history...It became an addiction to find those people and every tidbit of information I could gather about them. A few years ago, I collaborated that material with my youngest son...a computer genuis...he has expanded that data base to over 5,000 names now. It is honest...the illegetimate are listed too when they are known...a thorn in the side of many who look at their family history as pure royalty...my people were moonshiners, hotel owners...and possibly a whorehouse in the lot, as during the early 1800's the girls were expected to entertain the travelers and turn a coin or two if possible...One uncle was licensed with a tavern.
The real history...the secret history is the best history...getting to the point!

These people gave something to us now...we are the sum of their work...we can use is in a positive way and help others who will come after us. I wanted to know who my people were...scabs, scars and all...not the sugar...

If the abusive companies hire the lowest of the low...they will rise up in a few short generations and do as the others have done...give their blood, sweat and tears for this land of promise and the opportunity for them and those who will follow...hard work and honesty has always won out...we are programed to fear that type of change...but we are getting smarter.
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Old 05-02-2008, 08:56 PM
 
Location: Puerto Penasco, Mexico
967 posts, read 2,987,137 times
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History Channel had a great Biography on the Klan a couple months ago. Very interesting how it transformed from just a bunch of guys goofing around to the social stigma it is today.
In it's day, it was an essential element of social life to be a member. I would think that for the job of keeping the local citizenry in-line as DK mentioned, it wouldn't be too bad. If you look back at the debate we had on drugs in WV, wouldn't something similar be useful in combating the unsavory element that comes with the drug culture? Sort of like the local Big Brother.

Probably a social taboo to think that the Klan may have had some sort of positive role in the regulation of rural middle 1900's society.

A quick Google search shows a Klan rally in Harper Ferry back in 2006. Guess there's still some activity in WV...
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