Appalachian Coal Mining Stories | Stories from the Coal Mines
My interest in Appalachia began with my Granny Rector Polk. Her side of the family had been coal miners and ironworkers in Germany before coming to Virginia, where they eventually settled in Germanna. Later generations made their way into the Blue Ridge Mountains and eventually into the mountains of East Tennessee, where the family continued their trade and built the first forge in the area. That is where my granny was born and raised. Although she left the mountains after she married, she carried with her so much of what those mountains and that way of life had taught her.
Years later, my own interest turned toward coal mining, mountain communities and the lives of the people who called Appalachia home. I suppose, in many ways, I was looking for the Appalachia that raised my granny, because by the time I thought to ask her about those stories, it was too late.
I read about the miners who went underground wearing their helmets and cap lamps, carrying their lunch pails and doing a job that took courage and a whole lot of love for the families waiting for them at home. I learned about the disasters, the accidents and the miners who spent years underground only to pay for it later with their health.
But I also learned that coal-mining history isn't only about what happened underground.
It's about families, coal camps and company stores. It's about churches, schools, ballfields and neighbors who looked after one another. It's about women keeping families going while their husbands were working beneath a mountain. It's about children who knew the sound of the mine whistle and communities where nearly everybody knew somebody who worked in the mines.
Those are the stories we want to help preserve through Stories from the Coal Mines.
Why the Memorials Mean So Much to Me
Creating memorials is something very close to my heart.
I began creating memorial portraits for fallen military members and first responders in 2004, after my son enlisted in the Army and deployed to Iraq. I have continued that work for more than 20 years.
As I learned more about coal miners who died in mine disasters and accidents, and those whose lives were shortened by black lung and other illnesses connected to their work, I kept thinking about those families.
Miners may not wear a military uniform or a firefighter's badge, but they put on their helmets and cap lamps and went into places most of us will never see, knowing there were risks every time they went underground.
Offering free memorial portraits to coal-mining families is one small way I can use something I know how to do to honor them and help keep their memory alive.
Creating Something That Brings Back a Memory
Graphic design is another thing I love.
When I create Appalachian-themed artwork and gifts, I try to make something that means more than just a pretty picture.
Maybe it reminds someone of their papaw coming home from the mine, the company store they visited as a child, the coal camp where they grew up, or something that sat in their mamaw's kitchen.
If one of my designs brings back a memory someone hasn't thought about in years, then I've created what I hoped to create.
The coal-mining gifts we create also have another purpose. Money raised from that collection stays with the Stories from the Coal Mines project. It can help us preserve stories and create memorials, and as the project grows, we hope it can also allow us to give back to organizations helping miners with black lung and to coal-mining families going through hard times.
But This Is About More Than Memorials and Gifts
The biggest thing we hope to preserve is the stories.
There is history sitting in family photo albums and old boxes right now. There are stories that have never been written down because everybody in the family thought somebody would always remember them.
And there are former miners, wives, widows, sons and daughters who still remember things no history book could ever tell us.
We want to hear those stories.
What was it like growing up in a coal camp? What did your daddy carry in his lunch pail? What was payday like? Where did everybody gather? What do you remember about the company store, the school, the church or the ballfield? What story did your papaw tell over and over that everybody in the family can still repeat word for word?
Those everyday memories matter too.
Preserving Appalachian Coal Mining Stories for Future Generations
We don't want these stories to live only in a Facebook group or disappear down a social-media feed.
Our hope is that, as this collection grows, we can work with universities throughout Appalachia that are already preserving the history of these mountains. We'd love to see stories, photographs, interviews and family histories shared with this project preserved where future generations can still find them.
We would also eventually like to bring some of these stories together in a book.
Not a textbook filled with dates and statistics. A book about the people who actually lived this history and the communities they called home.
And I don't believe one person can tell that story.
We would love for miners, mining families, local historians, researchers, museums and others who have spent years preserving coalfield history to be part of what this becomes. There are people who know far more about this history than I ever will, and I believe that's exactly why we need to work together.
Stories from the Coal Mines is still young. We don't have every detail figured out, and I'm sure this project will grow in ways we haven't even thought of yet.
But we know where we want to start.
With the people.
With their photographs.
With their memories.
With the names of miners who deserve to be remembered.
And with the stories that are still here for us to save.
Help Us Keep the Stories Going
If your family has a coal-mining story, an old photograph, a memory of growing up in a coal camp, or the name of a miner you don't want forgotten, we'd love to hear from you.
You don't have to be a writer. Tell it the way you remember it. Sometimes the smallest details are the ones that bring a time and place back to life.
You can join our Stories from the Coal Mines Facebook group, where miners, families, historians and others can share stories, photographs and memories:
Stories from the Coal Mines Facebook Group
We are also working on an easier way for miners and families to share their stories directly with Hearts of Appalachia. Soon, you'll be able to fill out a simple online form and, if you'd like, share photographs and other pieces of your family's coal-mining history with us.
Until then, please don't wait to join us. The stories are already out there. They're sitting in family photo albums, tucked away in old boxes and living in the memories of people who still remember.
Remember the people. Preserve the stories. Pass them on.
Stories from the Coal Mines is a project of Hearts of Appalachia Project, Inc.
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