Rebecca "Becky" Bailey was born and raised in Fauquier County, Virginia. Her family roots are in McDowell and Mercer Counties, West Virginia. She has published articles and reviews in The Journal of Appalachian Studies, The Journal of Southern History, History News (the journal of the American Association for State and Local History), West Virginia History, and The Encyclopedia of Appalachia. She is currently an assistant professor of public history at Northern Kentucky University and lives with her two dogs, Mickey and Ellie Grace in Crestview, Kentucky. She first learned about Matewan through stories her coal miner grandfather told about witnessing Sid Hatfield's murder. Later, when she came to West Virginia University to study public history, she was hired to help collect oral histories in Matewan and Mingo County. She wrote Matewan Before the Massacre because she couldn't let the story go.