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By KARL LILLY CHARLESTON, W. Va. (UPI) —A dynamite blast ripped the doorway of one elementary school, another school was firebombed and roving pickets closed all but one Kanawha County coal mine Wednesday following a row by ban-the-book protesters to ‘‘fight until death.” Federal agents said an explosion at the Wet Branch Elementary School in the Cabin Creek area was caused by a stick of dynamite tossed through the front door. The blast blew out the doorway and tore a gaping hole in the floor. The firebombing occurred at the Midway Elementary School on Campbell Creek, across the Kanawha River from Cabin Creek, both located in the heart of the southern West Virginia soft coal fields. Angry parents, demanding permanent removal of controversial textbooks from classrooms, manned picket lines at mines throughout the county. The parents have termed the textbooks ‘‘obscene, un-American and anti-Christian.” Miners refused to cross the picket lines and went home. Officials closed the mines and estimated that 2,100 miners were idled. Quinn Morton, president of the Kanawha County Coal Operators Association, said only one mine in the county continued to operate. He said 30 carloads of pickets appeared at one mine and blocked the entrance. Later in the day, Arnold Miller, president of the United Mine Workers Union, ordered the men back to work. “I fully respect the right of every citizen, whether a UMW member or not, to protest what he or she feels are unsuitable educational material,’’ Miller said. “‘But there is no way to justify making thousands of innocent coal mining families lose their badly needed wages and pension fund royalties because of a dispute over education . Two agents from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division investigated the Wet Branch explosion and confirmed that dynamite had been used. It was first believed that blasting powder of a type used in coal mines had caused the explosion. “It appears that someone kicked the panel out of a wooden front door and threw a stick of dynamite inside,”’ one agent said. The 100 pupils who normally attend the Wet Branch school were told to report to another school in the area. The 300 pupils at the Midway School reported for classes, however. Although all the controversial textbooks have been removed from county schools for a 30-day period for a review by a citizens committee, protesters were not satisfied. They want the books banned permanently. The Rev. Charles C. Quigley, one of the protest leaders, had vowed to continue picketing even if they threw everyone into the county jail.
Newspaper Details
Morgantown Dominion Post
Morgantown, West Virginia, US
Thu, Oct 10, 1974
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Laura P.
USA 05 Jun 2026
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