Charles Lively (labor spy) facts for kids

Charles Everett Lively (born March 6, 1887, died May 28, 1962) was an American private detective. He worked secretly for companies during a time called the Coal Wars. These were big disagreements between coal miners and the companies they worked for. Lively played a part in these events in places like Appalachia and Colorado in the early 1900s.

Charles Lively's Secret Work

Charles Lively was a "labor spy." This means he worked secretly for companies to watch what workers and their unions were doing. He often pretended to be a coal miner himself. He spied on the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union in West Virginia and five other states.

Lively was very good at his secret job. He even became a delegate for the union. He was once photographed with a famous labor organizer named Mother Jones. He also worked for the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency in other parts of the country before his work in Matewan, West Virginia.

The Battle of Matewan

Lively's secret identity was discovered after a big event called the Battle of Matewan. This happened in May 1920. During this battle, seven detectives from the Baldwin–Felts agency were killed. After this, Lively could no longer work undercover.

Later Life

In the early 1930s, Charles Lively worked as a deputy sheriff in West Virginia. Later, in the 1940s, he and his second wife, Ollie Mae, ran a hotel called the Forde Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1955, they bought and managed an apartment building in Roanoke.

Charles Lively passed away in 1962 in Huntington, West Virginia. He was 75 years old.

Lively in Movies and Books

Charles Lively's story has been told in popular culture. He was played by actor Bob Gunton in the 1987 movie Matewan. This film shows the events of the Battle of Matewan.

In 2020, a historian named R. G. Yoho wrote a book about Lively. It is called The Nine Lives of Charles E. Lively: The Deadliest Man in the West Virginia-Colorado Coal Mine Wars.