The Americanization of West Virginia: Creating a Modern Industrial State, 1916-1925
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge United States History History 1996 The Americanization of West Virginia: Creating a Modern Industrial State, 1916-1925 John C. Hennen University of Kentucky Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Hennen, John C., "The Americanization of West Virginia: Creating a Modern Industrial State, 1916-1925" (1996). United States History. 119. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/119 The Americanization of West Virginia Winner of the 1995 Appalachian Studies Award The Americanization of West Virginia Creating a Modern Industrial State 1916-1925 John C. Hennen THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright © 1996 by the University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data Hennen.JohnC, 1951- The americanization of West Virginia : creating a modern industrial state, 1916-1925 /John Hennen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-8131-1960-X (cloth : alk. paper) 1. West Virginia—History—To 1950. 2. World War, 1914-1918—West Virginia. 3. Americanization. I. Title. F241.H54 1996 975.4'042—dc20 95-32714 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. To my mother and father Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations xi Preface xiii Introduction 1 1 War Propoganda and the Mobilization o Public Opinion in West Virginia ,1916-1918 5 2 National and West Virginia Perspectives on Higher Education and the Delivery of War Propoganda 24 3 National and State War Bureaucracies and the American Regulatory Consensus 41 4 Postwar Strategies for Promoting Industrial Americanization, Antiradicalism, and Habits of Industry 60 5 The Political Culture of the Red Scare in West Virginia, 1919-1921 80 6 Welfare Capitalism, the American Plan-Open-shop Movement, and the Triumph of Business Unionism 99 7 Voluntary Associations and Americanization in the 1920s 119 8 The Sanctification of Industrial Americanization 135 Conclusion 148 Notes 152 Bibliography 200 Index 211 Illustrations follow page 112 Acknowledgments Although writing is in many ways a singular and lonely endeavor, it is also a cooperative exercise. I would like to acknowledge my family and friends for their constant support and encouragement not only while I worked on this book, but always. I am indebted to Christelle Venham and the staff at the West Virginia and Regional History Collection in Morgantown. The staffs at the Morrow Library at Marshall University in Huntington, the Alderman Li- brary at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and the West Virginia State Archives in Charleston were unfailingly conscientious and gracious. Fred Armstrong and Debra Basham at the West Virginia archives were espe- cially helpful in guiding me through the archives' photograph files. I am happy to be part of the growing list of Appalachian Studies scholars who have been well served by the professionalism of the people and the richness of the collections at these facilities. The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University provided generous financial support through a teaching assistantship and a Swiger Teaching Fellowship. The Appalachian College Association lent assistance in the final stages of rewriting. The staff of the University Press of Kentucky made the editing and publication process more trouble-free than I could have imagined. My students at West Virginia University, Lindsey Wilson College, and the University of Kentucky have always renewed me when my spirits or energy have waned. I appreciate their unknowing contributions to this work and their consistently fresh, challenging, and humane perspectives on re- gional and American history. I could not have completed this project without the goodwill, friendship, and positive criticism of many colleagues. Sandra Barney, Jim Cook, Jeff Drobney, Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, Greg Good, Jerra Jen- rette, Maureen McCormick, Barbara Rasmussen, Tom Robertson, Paul Sal- strom, George Simpson, Mike Slaven, and Carol Wilson offered particularly valuable insights regarding this study, and, just as importantly, cheerful com- panionship. Thanks to colleagues who have read this work at many stages of the process. The recommendations of Dwight Billings, Ken Fones-Wolf, Jack Hammersmith, John Inscoe, Mary Lou Lustig, Gordon McKinney, John IX x Acknowledgments Remington, and John Super have made this a better work than it would otherwise have been. Any errors or inconsistencies are mine alone. Ronald L. Lewis at West Virginia University embodies the spirit of collegiality and fellowship with which countless individuals in Appalachian Studies have sustained me. Dr. Lewis's high academic standards are enhanced by his kind compassion for his students and devotion to the people of West Virginia. I cannot imagine a better mentor. Finally, my thanks to Barbara L. Laishley whose love and support have enriched my life beyond measure. Abbreviations AC The American Citizen ACA American Constitutional Association ACLU American Civil Liberties Union AFL American Federation of Labor AL American Legion CA Coal Age CCC Consolidation Coal Company Mutual Monthly Magazine CPI Committee on Public Information DA Daily Athenaeum DAR Daughters of the American Revolution HTM History Teacher's Magazine IWW Industrial Workers of the World JJC John Jacob Cornwell papers JMC James Morton Callahan papers MVHR Mississippi Valley Historical Review NAM National Association of Manufacturers NBHS National Board for Historical Service NEA National Education Association NSL National Security League NYT New York Times PT Pocahontas Times UMWA United Mine Workers of America UMWJ United Mine Workers Journal WV [Hand Book] WV Hand Book (the Blue Book) WVCD West Virginia Council of Defense WVEA West Virginia Education Association WVFWC West Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs WVH West Virginia History WVMA West Virginia Manufacturer's Association WVR West Virginia Review WVRHC West Virginia and Regional History Collection WVSJ West Virginia School Journal WVU West Virginia University WVWCTU West Virginia Woman's Christian Temperance Union Preface Not long after I decided on a title for this work, I realized that it came not from my cleverness but was unconsciously derived from "Economic Mod- ernization and the Americanization of Appalachia," a chapter in Henry Shapiro's Appalachia on our Mind.1 This debt is appropriate, since Shapiro's analysis of the creation and sustenance of an ideology of Appalachian "other- ness" is important to any inquiry into the region's relationship to the nation. And just as Shapiro states in the opening passage of his work that it is not a history of Appalachia but of the idea of Appalachia, I should tell readers that The Americanization of West Virginia is not a study of Appalachian identity. Rather it is a study of the efforts of a minority of state elites to instill in the people of West Virginia an authoritarian ideology of American identity, to secure popular devotion to a universal value system that equated the inter- ests of business to that of the nation. Many scholars have pointed out the need to address Appalachian issues in a national as well as regional context, and to reassess the idea that Appalachian problems are exceptional in character. They point to national institutional forces that have shaped the contours of regional development and suggest that the history of Appalachia is best understood in the broad context of industrial capitalist development. It is becoming more apparent that the study of recent regional history must also transcend national boundaries, taking into account the roots of modern economic globaliza- tion. Most recently Stephen L. Fisher has suggested the connection of local events to global forces. Nearly two decades ago, David Walls and Dwight Billings noted that Appalachian historians must be prepared to expand their horizons to encompass world economic structures. In 1980 Helen Lewis and Myles Horton foresaw the internationalization of Latin American and Appalachian resistance struggles in confronting transnational corporations. John Gaventa succinctly sketched the outline for the global focus in a 1987 essay in which he introduced the memorable phrase, "the Appalachianiza- tion of America."2 The Americanization of West Virginia investigates, through the case study of an industrial state in a time of rapid change, rudiments of a nationalistic xiv Preface developmental ideology geared toward insuring long-range American domi- nance of world markets. Disciples of that ideology zealously pursued legiti-