Biography
Mahan Vanover 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.
Mahan Vanover, a picket captain in the strike, was likewise convicted of contempt of the picket-limit order and sentenced to six months in jail.
