‘Entirely Preventable’ exhibit chronicling 100 years of black lung opens in Matewan

PRESS RELEASE

MATEWAN, W.Va – The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum’s latest exhibit, Entirely Preventable: The Toxic Legacy of Silica Dust from Hawks Nest to Black Lung, is following the 100 year trajectory of a disease known all too well to the coalfields through the lenses of three photographers.

“This exhibition serves as a visual record of what has been described as one of the worst industrial medical disasters in American history,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Stacy Kranitz, who curated the exhibit. “Across generations, these photographs trace a continuous struggle: workers fighting to make visible a disease that should never exist.”

The work, staged inside the Museum’s Solidarity Gallery, begins with a visual retelling of the Hawk’s Nest Disaster (1930-1931). Photographer Raymond Thompson Jr. reimagines this industrial tragedy through archival research and poetic recontextualization, centering Black laborers whose stories have been historically erased. 

The seminal images of former United Mine Workers Journal Photographer Earl Dotter follow the narrative, capturing the “first wave” of the Black Lung movement in the 1970s. This work not only records the advocacy movement, but also the lives of afflicted miners. These photographs serve as documentation and memorial, becoming a visual reminder of the human cost of neglect and the necessity of collective action.

Krantiz’s work takes us to present day. Her photographs visualize MSHA inspectors, NIOSH researchers, labor attorneys, healthcare providers, and grassroots activists striving to enact and defend the 2024 Silica Rule as the disease is on the rise with an increasingly younger population.

“Black Lung is not some old man’s disease,” said Executive Director Mackenzie New Walker. “We hope this exhibit sparks conversation, as any good art should, and serves as a call to action for the friends, families, and communities who are fighting to breathe.” 

“This exhibit could not be more timely,” said Barbara Ellen Smith, Museum Board President and Author of Digging Our Own Graves. “View the photos and weep. Better yet, get angry. Demand that the federal government implement a strict silica standard for coal mines.”

Entirely Preventable is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 5pm inside the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum located at 112 Mate Street, Matewan, WV. 

About the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum: The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum is a people’s history museum based in Matewan, WV, dedicated to telling the story of the deadly, decades-long labor struggle between coal miners seeking unionization and the powerful industrialists who opposed them in the early 20th century. The museum preserves and shares artifacts from the Mine Wars, exploring these historical events from multiple perspectives and through the lives of ordinary people. Its programming expands beyond the traditional museum walls and into the classroom, the landscape, and the community of central Appalachia.

About Solidarity Gallery: The Solidarity Gallery is a rotating exhibition space inside the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum where art and history collide. It allows us to extend beyond the story of the Mine Wars, welcoming artists of all ages and backgrounds. The gallery has featured artwork from students across Appalachia, exhibitions on the 1990, 2018, and 2019 teachers’ strikes, and sold-out original art shows.