At the annual Miners Memorial Weekend held in Cumberland, British Columbia each June, participants lay roses at the grave of the famous labour martyr Ginger Goodwin. Nearby his distinctive headstone, almost unnoticed, is a simple metal plate affixed to a stone.
This modest marker identifies the grave of coal miner Joe Naylor (1872-1946), an unsung hero of the labour movement and both comrade and mentor to Ginger Goodwin. A socialist, pacifist, modest, principled leader and supporter of working class aspirations for a better world. This is his story.


FEATURED MUSIC:
Theme song: "Hold the Fort" - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992. Part of the "On to Ottawa" film produced by Sara Diamond.
"Nanaimo Jail" - Performed by Jon Bartlett. Part of a series of Co-op radio reel-to-reel tapes donated to the BC Labour Heritage Centre in 2019 by Allen Seager.
Butte Miners' Song - "I Once Was A Carman on the Great Mountain Con" performed by Jeff Burrows for the BC Labour Heritage Centre, 2020.
"Are You From Bevan?" Performed by Phil Thomas accompanied by Barry Hall (vocal, guitar) & Michael Thomas (mandolin), from Phil’s LP/CD Where the Fraser River Flows (1962).
VOICEOVERS:
"Joe Naylor" played by Jeff Burrows.
"Lester" played by Erik Jarvis.
BACKGROUND MUSIC:
"Ruy Blas Overture" (Mendelssohn) - Victor Herbert Orchestra (1913).
"Maple Leaf Rag"  - Vess L. Ossman.
"Aguirre the Wrath of God" - Gary Lucas.
"Downfall" - Kai Engel.
"Homeroad" - Kai Engel.
"Bedroll" - Blue Dot Sessions.
"The Red Flag" - Ogg Vorbis.
RESEARCH:
Fighting for Dignity: The Ginger Goodwin Story by Roger Stonebanks. Canadian Committee on Labour History, AU Press, January 2004.
A Crisis of Commitment: Socialist Internationalism in British Columbia during the Great Warby Dale Michael McCartney. B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2004. THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of History © Dale Michael McCartney 2010.
BC Federationist – UBC Special Collections.
Western Clarion – UBC Special Collections.
The 1913 Vancouver Island Miners Strike by Jack Kavanagh.
Socialist History Project: The Vancouver Island Strike issued by the B.C. Miners’ Liberation League, Vancouver, B.C.
Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-19: Canada’s First War on Terror by Daniel Francis. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010.
Founded on Coal - A History of a Coal Mining Community: The Parish of St. Matthew, Highfield and Winstanley by Ray Winstanley and Derek Winstanley, 1981.
When Toil Meant Trouble: Butte’s Labor Heritage by George Everett.
www.butteamerica.com/labor.htm
Joe Naylor, Staunch Trade Unionist, Dies. Canadian Mineworker Obituary, 1946.

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