![On Oct. 31, 1891, during the Coal Creek War labor uprising to protest convict leasing, a group of miners seized the Knoxville Iron Company stockade at Coal Creek. They freed over 300 convicts and supplied them with fresh food and civilian clothes. The Convict lease system was used to undermine union organizing and perpetuate a form of slavery. (See Slavery by Another Name) What the marker does not mention is that while this contributed to the official end of convict leasing in Tenn., inmates at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary were forced to mine coal for the state. In fact, the mine mouth opened within the prison walls and coal was shipped via a convict-built railroad spur. [Here are readings and lessons for the classroom on coal throughout U.S. history: http://bit.ly/LP6vB8]](https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/s526x395/10389089_10152453416819677_4030503587617932939_n.jpg?oh=8d70015820cbbc848802942cd49c898e&oe=54F234BD&__gda__=1425424555_4112bd72a6f4f8144c72f1dea75f4183)
On Oct. 31, 1891, during the Coal Creek War labor uprising to protest convict leasing, a group of miners seized the Knoxville Iron Company stockade at Coal Creek. They freed over 300 convicts and supplied them with fresh food and civilian clothes. The Convict lease system was used to undermine union organizing and perpetuate a form of slavery. (See Slavery by Another Name) What the marker does not mention is that while this contributed to the official end of convict leasing in Tenn., inmates at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary were forced to mine coal for the state. In fact, the mine mouth opened within the prison walls and coal was shipped via a convict-built railroad spur. [Here are readings and lessons for the classroom on coal throughout U.S. history: http://bit.ly/LP6vB8]
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