The Little Rock Assembly Church in Thayer, WV is a Black church built roughly 100 years ago. 

There are no families of color left in the community, but neighboring residents still regularly used the church until the National Park Service evicted the pastor over the summer due to alleged code violations.

Churches were early hubs for the union movement, especially Black churches, as union organizers often appealed to biblical themes of slavery and brutality of Pharaoh's to justify the sanctity of forming a union.

During Illinois organizer John H. Walker's 1902 visit to still unorganized Mt. Hope, a group of 12 blacklisted miners approached him about forming a union, to which he replied:

"Now, boys, you are twelve in number. That was the number Christ had. I hope that among your twelve there will be no Judas, no one who will betray his fellow. The work you do is for your children and for the future. You preach the gospel of better food, better homes, and decent compensation for the wealth you produce. It is these things that make a great nation." 

Thayer unionized in 1903, with support from Mother Jones in the battle of Stanaford, the first of the WV mine wars. This space is an important part of West Virginia's history of interracial solidarity.

Residents, along with myself, [Jonah Kone from the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World, the union cofounded by Mother Jones)] have been regularly calling the National Park Service for nearly a month. We are asking for a timeline to get the church operational again, but the NPS has consistently ignored our persistence and left our calls unanswered.

As such, we feel as though we have no choice but to draft this petition demanding a more transparent timeline, cost breakdown, and opportunities for community involvement.

Our immediate demands are as follows:

1. The National Park Service must provide a transparent roster of every improvement needing to be made on the Little Rock Assembly Church, cost estimates for each service, along with a detailed schedule so residents can know when to expect to be able to use the church again.

2. Clearly articulate which improvements must be made by NPS contractors, and which can be made by volunteers. Allow and encourage residents to organize their own community improvement days to assist in the maintenance work such that the church can be opened sooner. 

3. In the case of limited funding for maintenance to be completed in a timely manner, provide cost estimates for certain improvement activities that can be fundraised with donations and a spring benefit concert such that renovations may be completed earlier than intended with community support.

Or long term demand is:

While not immediately pressing, we request that the National Park Service construct a historical marker in front of Little Rock Assembly Church that accurately reflects the historical significance of the town of Thayer, the role the town played in the New River coal boom in the 20th century, and the importance of the town during Mother Jones’ visit during the New River strike of 1903. Include this information as a stop on the African American Heritage Audio tour, and thoroughly articulate the importance of black communities and churches such as Little Rock Assembly Church and the Thurmond Black church in the early labor movement in WV, as articulated in Mother Jones’ own autobiography.