Baldwin-Felts Secret Agent Badge

Object/Artifact

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

Name/Title

Baldwin-Felts Secret Agent Badge

Entry/Object ID

DE.0006

Description

Round metal badge with painted inlay lettering, hinged pin back.

Use

Identification of Baldwin-Felts private security agents.

Context

The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency (1890s-1937), known colloquially as "gun thugs", was the primary private security firm in the employ of coal operators in the Central Appalachian coalfields, and were responsible for enforcing evictions, brutality, murder, and other oppression against union organizers and their families and in Coal Camp settlements.

Collection

Clothing and Adornments

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Embossing

Location

front

Transcription

BALDWIN-FELTS Inc. SECRET AGENT 27

Notes

lettering painted inside embossing

Material

Metal

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency

Exhibition

Bloody Mingo

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Baldwin Felts Detective Agency badge, business card To coal operators the Baldwin-Felts badge signified order and control. To the miners, it symbolized brutality and oppression - a police state contrary to the ideals of a free society.

Research Notes

Research Type

Donor/Source Information

Person

Doug Estepp

Notes

Donor believes this badge to have belonged to Albert Felts, killed May 19, 1920 in the Battle of Matewan.