This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.
Norman Yarborough
as Self - Eastover Mining President
Houston Elmore
as Self - UMW Organizer
Phil Sparks
as Self - UMW Staff
Bessie Lou Cornett Parker
as Self
Sudie Crusenberry
as Self
Mary Lou Fergerson
as Self
Basil Collins
as Self - Mine Foreman
Florence Reece
as Self
Lois Scott
as Self
