Jayden Booth

                                                                       Matewan

 

      I learned a lot during the Matewan trip. I thought it was very cool and exciting. I thought it was a very amazing activity that us kids could do. I was very anxious to get to the town of Matewan!

      When we got to Matewan all I wanted to do was explore the very exciting old town. I remember the first thing we saw was a sign that had about two or three paragraphs about the Matewan massacre, that happened on May 19, 1920. When we saw that we just had to explore town. We went over to one of the building’s that was in the massacre and we saw bullet holes in the walls! 

      After, we saw the bullet holes we went into the Hatfield house to eat dinner. When dinner was all done we went to the UMWA. We spoke with them men in the UMWA and asked a few questions. 

Later on that night we met James Baldwin. He is the great great grandson of William Gibbony Baldwin. The next day he took our group on a tour though the old buildings of the town. Next, we went to the mine wars museum. At the mine wars museum we looked around and got a speech by Wilma.After that we walked around town. 

      Then I found out that one of my ancestors was buried in one of the Hatfield cemeteries! We checked out the nearest cemetery but we didn’t find his grave. But, we did find Sid Hatfield’s grave! It was a very cool experience seeing his grave.

       Later on that day we all settled in for the night. I really enjoyed the Matewan trip. I thought it was a very good learning experience for us. I really liked the Matewan trip it was a very big trip and just over all amazing. I loved the trip and I hope I can go back to Matewan again sometime soon.