Biography
Lemuel Meadows was a striking coal miner and member of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) jailed during the bitter 1976–79 strike at the Blue Diamond Coal Company's Justus mine in Stearns, Kentucky. After the miners voted 126–57 to be represented by the UMWA, Blue Diamond refused to sign a standard union contract, and the miners walked out in a struggle for union recognition that drew comparisons to Harlan County. State troopers in riot gear escorted strikebreakers through the picket lines, gunfire broke out, and roughly 110 miners and family members were arrested over the course of the strike.
Lemuel Meadows, one of the striking miners, was convicted of violating a court order limiting the number of pickets and sentenced to six months in jail.
