Abstract
Nineteenth century coal miners' oral interviews from Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia convey their experiences as individuals and of a general community. Southern Appalachian coal miners experienced nearly constant dangers and threats to their lives underground which helped shape their relationships between other miners and industry controls. Added to coal miners’ occupational hazards, the long term emphysemic effects of coal mining and the physical prevalence of coal dust in the coal miner’s life created a life defined by danger. Miners reconciled this dehumanizing lifestyle through readily predictable methods, such as spirituality and camaraderie but also seemingly paradoxical methods, including carelessness and mischief underground.
First Advisor
Douglas Sackman
Second Advisor
Katherine Smith
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Rights
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in History
Date of Award
Spring 5-5-2016
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Malachowski, Steven M. 2978994, "All You Knew: Twentieth Century Southern Appalachian Coal Miners and their Experience with Death and Danger" (2018). History Theses. 31.
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/history_theses/31
Included in
Labor History Commons, Oral History Commons, Rural Sociology Commons