Local History: Documenting the Christmas Day Massacre in South Pittsburg That Is All But Forgotten Now

Imagine if this happened today.

A simmering political feud ends in a gun battle.

20 people are involved.

6 of them die, including a sheriff and a police chief.

And it happens on Christmas Day.

How much attention would it get now?

We'd see satellite trucks from all the news outlets here.

Around the clock coverage on cable news networks.

Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Chris Mathews and Larry King would tell us what it all means.

And we would get every tragic detail for weeks to come.

But this did happen, right in our own backyard, 81 years ago.

And now it's all but forgotten.

The Christmas Day Massacre happened in South Pittsburg in 1927.

It was born out of a union fight.

The stove manufacturing plant that employed three quarters of the town's population was trying to get rid of their unions.

As was often the case in those days, law enforcement became involved.

The city police department sided with the company, while the sheriff was a union supporter.

The violence that erupted on Christmas Day did make national headlines.

But soon the nation would endure a Depression and World War.

The story was simply forgotten or consciously buried.

Now researchers from MTSU are trying to recreate the events all these decades later.

Here is a look at what they've come up with so far from an MTSU report.

The researchers consider the Christmas Day Massacre an important milestone in what happened to unions in the South.

So on Sunday, they are returning to South Pittsburg and hoping you can help them with their research.

After all, many of the descendants of the people involved still live here.

The researchers are looking for family stories, photos, diaries... basically anything that will help tell the story.

Here is a release from the team on their research:

In 2005, two MTSU professors made a presentation in South Pittsburg about their research into the 1927 “Christmas Day Shootout.” At the time, a number of people said they had heard stories about the incident that had been passed down through the years.

At 2 p.m., Sunday, May 18, interested citizens are encouraged to come to the Senior Citizen Activity Center, 315 Elm Ave., in South Pittsburg to hear and record family memories and stories about the “Shootout.”

Participants are also encouraged to bring photographs or other relevant materials. These items will be copied or photographed and returned immediately to the owners.

Dr. Barbara Haskew, MTSU professor of economics and director of the Tennessee Center for Labor Management Relations, and Dr. Bob Jones, professor of history, will return to South Pittsburg to facilitate the collection and recording of those stories so that they can become a part of the record for future generations. These recordings and other materials will be preserved at the Albert Gore Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University.

For questions or more information, contact Carolyn Millhiser, secretary, South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society, at (423)-837-8327 or via email at ckmillhiser@charter.net.