D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
November
2008
"Salt" Mining
A new documentary, premiering Nov. 8, recalls the historic Empire Zinc strike and the Salt of the Earth film that immortalized the strikers.
By Donna Clayton Lawder
These are faces with a story to tell. With the subjects' dated hairstyles and humble, old-fashioned attire, the striking black-and-white images reflect a gritty time in our not-so-distant past, setting the scene for a poignant recounting of local history.
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A scene from the original Salt
of the Earth film, used in a poster for the new documentary. |
A man in a cast and on crutches, his head and nose bandaged, is identified by the caption as Henry Polanco, run down by a strikebreaker's car. Another photo shows women knitting, their children nearby, protest signs in the background. Another black-and-white image shows Consuela Martinez, also run down by a car, the caption says. All the while, as the faces tick past, strains of the song, "Corrida del Empire Zinc" are sung in Spanish, interweaving with narration by public radio host Emily Guerra.
Welcome to Bringing Salt of the Earth Home, a new documentary film that mingles images from the historic Empire Zinc Mine Strike with footage from a local conference marking the 50th anniversary of the movie Salt of the Earth. Based on the true events of Grant County's most infamous labor dispute, "Salt of the Earth" depicted the 1950-1952 strike against the Empire Zinc Co. of Hanover by the International Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 890. Filmed in Grant County in 1953, the original Salt of the Earth is the first and only movie ever to be blacklisted in America.
But those stories and lives would not be silenced.
This new documentary — which will be premiered and showcased with an event at the Cobre Performing Arts Center in Bayard, Nov. 8, 1:30-5 p.m. — combines black-and-white stills and a mini-history lesson in captions with some of the inspirational and often moving presentations by a panel at the local anniversary event four years ago. At that four-day symposium, original strike and film participants joined descendants, historians and community members to recall the strike and the film.
| Bringing Salt of the Earth Home: A 50th Anniversary Symposium Film Premiere Nov. 8, 1:30-5 p.m. Cobre Performing Arts Center, Bayard Free admission, light refreshments 1:30 p.m. — Movie excerpts 2 p.m. — Comments by speakers and VIPs 2:30 p.m. — Brandon Perrualt performs "Salt" 3-5 p.m. — Film shown in its entirety |
The new documentary includes the 2004 conference's keynote address by Clinton Jencks, who was the representative and past president of Local 890 and worked for the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers until 1956. There also are speeches by the late Manuel Herrera, former New Mexico state representative; Susan Berry, director of the Silver City Museum; Robert Morales Sr., a former union organizer and community activist; the late Albert Millan, a union leader; and Lorenzo Torres and Tomas Carrillo, who were involved in the strike and also appeared in the original Salt of the Earth film.
The Bayard event will open with excerpts of the new documentary, followed by several speakers and VIPs connected to the Empire Zinc Strike and the original Salt of the Earth film, including Morales. A child at the time of the strike, Morales returned to the mining area after serving in the military during the Vietnam War. He went to work in the mines, working closely with labor leaders like Juan Chacon — who played himself in the original movie.
Local singer-songwriter Brandon Perrault will perform his original song, "Salt," which was written for the event and commemorates the strike and its workers. The new two-hour film will then be shown in its entirety.
Theresa Strottman, who is on the board of directors at the Silver City Museum, which is presenting the Bayard event and had a hand in the 2004 symposium and the new documentary, says the public is welcome to attend any part or all of the event. The project's goal, she says, is to encourage greater understanding of this complex and important historical period in southwest New Mexico.
Before the prolonged and sometimes violent two-year strike that began in 1950, Empire Zinc was the last mining operation in Grant County still using the "dual wage system" that favored Anglo workers over Mexican-Americans. The mines had separate changing areas and lunchrooms for Hispanic miners, who handled most of the dangerous underground assignments.
When an injunction barred the striking miners of the Local 890 Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union from picketing, their wives, mothers, sisters and children took their places on the picket line. The housewives-turned-picketers repulsed "scab" workers, defied mine owners and were jailed on public-disturbance charges. Left at home to handle housework and childcare while their wives spent long hours picketing, some men resented their unexpected role reversal.
In the original Salt of the Earth film, actual union mine workers and community members enacted their real-life stories through movie roles. It told the story of courageous men and women who stepped forward and stood tall in the face of unfairness and bigotry. It put human faces on history.
The new documentary and event in Bayard gives us the chance — metaphorically and literally — to shake their hands.