Cumberland’s coal mining history and future are explored in the documentary Goodwin’s Way.
The film explores the life and legacy of folk hero Ginger Goodwin, an immigrant coal miner.
The film premiered in Vancouver May 1. Since its premiere it has been screened in New York, as part of the Workers Unite Film Festival.
The film is being shown Tuesday (June 28), 5:30 p.m., at the Nanaimo Museum, located at 100 Museum Way. Admission is by donation.
Goodwin moved from England to Cumberland in 1910 and was part of the 1912-14 Vancouver Island Coal Miner’s Strike.
He led more than 1,000 workers in a strike for eight hour work days in Trail, B.C.
The strike was during the First World War and soon after Goodwin was conscripted, despite poor health.
Goodwin moved back to Cumberland to avoid conscription and was aided by local families who helped hide him in the mountains.
On July 27, 1918 he was killed by a Provincial Police Constable named Dan Campbell. No witnesses were present.
Word of his death spread and in Vancouver workers voted to put down their tools in protest and it sparked the first general strike in Canadian History, according to the Goodwin’s Way website.
His legacy and actions came to the forefront of Cumberland residents’ minds when signs commemorating is death began to disappear and a new proposal for underground coal mines, the Rave Coal Project, was put forward in Cumberland.
The new mine proposal was two kilometres from the road named after Goodwin.
The section of road, near the Vancouver Island Highway, was briefly called Ginger Goodwin Way.
The documentary combines historical and current events about the community of Cumberland.
The screening is part of a Vancouver Island tour for the film that started in Cumberland June 16.
For more information please go to the film’s website www.goodwinsway.com.
