The Church Family

Thacker Mines, Mingo County, West Virginia, 1970

Elvis Church, a disabled miner, with his wife, their sons and nephews. Thacker Mines, an old coal camp, is near Matewan, scene of miners union struggles against the coal operators and their armed Baldwin Phelps Detectives and hired guns in the late teens and 1920s. John Sayles feature film, Matewan, tells this important story.

Courtesy of the photographer, Builder Levy.