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Start Over Date range 1938 Subjects Coal miners
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Allard Hostetter Diaries, 1925/1949

0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)
Diaries of Hostetter, a coal miner from Nelsonville, Ohio, which cover the years 1925 to 1949, one volume for each year. There are no volumes for the years 1933, 1937, 1942, 1944, 1945, and 1947. They contain information on mine production, inspections, accidents, equipment, labor, and other aspects of the coal mining industry.
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Allard Hostetter Diaries, 1925/1949 0.4 Linear Feet Summary: 5 in. (1 document case)

Hostetter, Allard
Diaries of Hostetter, a coal miner from Nelsonville, Ohio, which cover the years 1925 to 1949, one volume for each year. There are no volumes for the years 1933, 1937, 1942, 1944, 1945, and 1947. They contain information on mine production, inspections, accidents, equipment, labor, and other aspects of the coal mining industry.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Denise Giardina, Author, Papers, 1900/2016

3.84 Linear Feet 7 document cases, 2.5 in. each; 5 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 notecard box, 3 in.; 1 flat storage box, 1.5 in.; 1 flat storage box, 1 in. 0.22 Gigabytes 56 files, formats include .txt, .doc, .docx, and .po

Papers of Appalachian author Denise Giardina, whose 1987 novel Storming Heaven received the W. D. Weatherford Award, and 1992 novel The Unquiet Earth received the American Book Award and the Lillian Smith Book Award for fiction. The collection includes research notebooks and draft manuscripts of her historical novels Good King Harry, Storming Heaven, The Unquiet Earth, Saints and Villains, and Emily's Ghost.

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Denise Giardina, Author, Papers, 1900/2016 3.84 Linear Feet 7 document cases, 2.5 in. each; 5 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 notecard box, 3 in.; 1 flat storage box, 1.5 in.; 1 flat storage box, 1 in. 0.22 Gigabytes 56 files, formats include .txt, .doc, .docx, and .po

Giardina, Denise, 1951-

Papers of Appalachian author Denise Giardina, whose 1987 novel Storming Heaven received the W. D. Weatherford Award, and 1992 novel The Unquiet Earth received the American Book Award and the Lillian Smith Book Award for fiction. The collection includes research notebooks and draft manuscripts of her historical novels Good King Harry, Storming Heaven, The Unquiet Earth, Saints and Villains, and Emily's Ghost.

West Virginia and Regional History Center

Festus P. Summers (1895-1971), Historian, Research Papers Regarding West Virginia History, 1900/1971

1.6 Linear Feet Summary: 1 ft. 6 1/2 in. (1 record carton, 15 in.); (1 flat storage box, 3 1/2 in.)
Research papers of Festus P. Summers (1895-1971), a historian who served on the faculty of West Virginia University from 1932 to 1965 and as chairman of the history department from 1946 to 1962. Collection includes photocopied correspondence, articles, and typescripts, as well as manuscript notes. Many of the photocopies appear to have been made from Archives and Manuscript collections at the West Virginia and Regional History Center, including A&M 873, A&M 1661, A&M 1824, and A&M 2141. Topics include the West Virginia coal mine wars (1912-1927); West Virginia tax reform and economy (1900s-1950s); and individuals related to coal mining, labor, and legislation (1902-1971). These individuals include Van A. Bittner, W.E. Chilton, Justus Collins (President of Winding Gulf Colliery Company), Walter S. Hallanan, Henry D. Hatfield, M.M. Neely, C.E. Smith, and Walter R. Thurmond. Also included is a copy of a dissertation titled "Rush Dew Holt: The Boy Senator, 1905-1942," by William Ellis Coffey of WVU (1970), and a typescript copy of a manuscript by Dr. James Morton Callahan titled "History of West Virginia University: Problems and Policies." The Callahan typescript also includes annotations by Summers (ca. 1966).
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Festus P. Summers (1895-1971), Historian, Research Papers Regarding West Virginia History, 1900/1971 1.6 Linear Feet Summary: 1 ft. 6 1/2 in. (1 record carton, 15 in.); (1 flat storage box, 3 1/2 in.)

Summers, Festus P. (Festus Paul), 1895-1971
Research papers of Festus P. Summers (1895-1971), a historian who served on the faculty of West Virginia University from 1932 to 1965 and as chairman of the history department from 1946 to 1962. Collection includes photocopied correspondence, articles, and typescripts, as well as manuscript notes. Many of the photocopies appear to have been made from Archives and Manuscript collections at the West Virginia and Regional History Center, including A&M 873, A&M 1661, A&M 1824, and A&M 2141. Topics include the West Virginia coal mine wars (1912-1927); West Virginia tax reform and economy (1900s-1950s); and individuals related to coal mining, labor, and legislation (1902-1971). These individuals include Van A. Bittner, W.E. Chilton, Justus Collins (President of Winding Gulf Colliery Company), Walter S. Hallanan, Henry D. Hatfield, M.M. Neely, C.E. Smith, and Walter R. Thurmond. Also included is a copy of a dissertation titled "Rush Dew Holt: The Boy Senator, 1905-1942," by William Ellis Coffey of WVU (1970), and a typescript copy of a manuscript by Dr. James Morton Callahan titled "History of West Virginia University: Problems and Policies." The Callahan typescript also includes annotations by Summers (ca. 1966).
West Virginia and Regional History Center

George Thompson, Coal Miner, Records, 1902/1984

0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (1 folder)

This collection includes booklets of agreements between the U.M.W.A. and northern WV coal operators, coal company employee accounts, and WV mining law codes, as well as certificates for first aid training and union dues of George Thompson of Monongah, Marion Co., WV.

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George Thompson, Coal Miner, Records, 1902/1984 0.1 Linear Feet Summary: 1/2 in. (1 folder)

Thompson, George

This collection includes booklets of agreements between the U.M.W.A. and northern WV coal operators, coal company employee accounts, and WV mining law codes, as well as certificates for first aid training and union dues of George Thompson of Monongah, Marion Co., WV.

West Virginia and Regional History Center

Joseph Ozanic, Labor Leader, Papers, 1932/1974

5.1 Linear Feet Summary: 5 ft. 1 in. (7 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 records carton, 15 in. each); (1 framed item, 1 in.)
Joe Ozanic went to work in the coal mines of Mt. Olive, joining in 1909, UMW Local 728. After serving briefly in the army during World War I, Ozanic returned to work in the mines at Mt. Olive. In 1932, Ozanic joined the Progressive Mine Workers of America, a rival organization to the United Mine Workers, serving both as president of PMWA District 1 and as national president. During the 1940s, Ozanic was an organizer for the American Federation of Labor. These papers reflect Ozanic's involvement with the Progressive Mine Workers and the American Federation of Labor. Material from his career as a union leader includes correspondence, financial records, speeches, certificates, newspaper clippings, photographs, broadsides, scripts for plays, union convention proceedings, contracts, bylaws, constitutions, and miscellaneous publications. Subjects include the National Labor Relations Board, American labor unions during World War II, the Union Miners' Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois, AFL organizing drives, miners' marches in Illinois, Mother Jones, and John L. Lewis. Among the correspondents are Joe Pecik, John Fancher, and Vivian Pleska. Ozanic's personal papers include family correspondence, receipts, certificates, memorabilia, and photographs. The correspondence includes postcards from Ozanic to his wife and son from various places in the United States and Ozanic's certificate of competency as a coal miner, issued by the Illinois Miners Examining Board in 1917.
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Joseph Ozanic, Labor Leader, Papers, 1932/1974 5.1 Linear Feet Summary: 5 ft. 1 in. (7 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 records carton, 15 in. each); (1 framed item, 1 in.)

Ozanic, Joseph
Joe Ozanic went to work in the coal mines of Mt. Olive, joining in 1909, UMW Local 728. After serving briefly in the army during World War I, Ozanic returned to work in the mines at Mt. Olive. In 1932, Ozanic joined the Progressive Mine Workers of America, a rival organization to the United Mine Workers, serving both as president of PMWA District 1 and as national president. During the 1940s, Ozanic was an organizer for the American Federation of Labor. These papers reflect Ozanic's involvement with the Progressive Mine Workers and the American Federation of Labor. Material from his career as a union leader includes correspondence, financial records, speeches, certificates, newspaper clippings, photographs, broadsides, scripts for plays, union convention proceedings, contracts, bylaws, constitutions, and miscellaneous publications. Subjects include the National Labor Relations Board, American labor unions during World War II, the Union Miners' Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois, AFL organizing drives, miners' marches in Illinois, Mother Jones, and John L. Lewis. Among the correspondents are Joe Pecik, John Fancher, and Vivian Pleska. Ozanic's personal papers include family correspondence, receipts, certificates, memorabilia, and photographs. The correspondence includes postcards from Ozanic to his wife and son from various places in the United States and Ozanic's certificate of competency as a coal miner, issued by the Illinois Miners Examining Board in 1917.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Mother Jones Typescript Memoir, 1938

0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 small flat storage box)
Typescript memoir of the life of Mother Jones, entitled "Mother Jones: the Life Story of the Irish Immigrant Girl Who Became the Most Unique Character in the American Labor Movement, Living Past 100 Years," written by Lillie May Burgess of Hyattsville, Maryland, and copyrighted 8 February 1938. The manuscript is in two parts, several pages of which are missing. The first part (241pp.) is entitled "The Life Story of Mother Jones: American Labor's Joan of Arc," and is a narration of events in Mother Jones' life. It includes a description of her early years, before she became a labor activist, and some of the highlights of her labor career. Her activities in organizing miners in West Virginia and Colorado receive most emphasis, but also included are her activities among women brewery workers, her participation in the 1919 steel strike at Homestead, Pennsylvania, her interest in the Mexican Revolution of 1911, her views on woman suffrage and prohibition, her meetings with various presidents and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and her friendship with Terence V. Powderly, fellow labor activist. The narration follows closely that of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MOTHER JONES, published in 1925 by Charles H. Kerr & Co., Chicago, Ill., with the addition of some chapters on her life after 1925. The second part (106pp.) is entitled "The Last Years of Mother Jones (Personal Reminiscences)." It is a narration of the later years of Mother Jones' life, ca.1927-1930, most of which she spent under the care of the author, Lillie May Burgess, at the Burgess home in Hyattsville, Maryland. Mrs. Burgess relates the circumstances under which Mother Jones and she became friends, how Mother Jones came to live with the Burgess family in 1927, and what these years of her life were like.
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Mother Jones Typescript Memoir, 1938 0.25 Linear Feet Summary: 3 in. (1 small flat storage box)

Burgess, Lillie May (Fowler)
Typescript memoir of the life of Mother Jones, entitled "Mother Jones: the Life Story of the Irish Immigrant Girl Who Became the Most Unique Character in the American Labor Movement, Living Past 100 Years," written by Lillie May Burgess of Hyattsville, Maryland, and copyrighted 8 February 1938. The manuscript is in two parts, several pages of which are missing. The first part (241pp.) is entitled "The Life Story of Mother Jones: American Labor's Joan of Arc," and is a narration of events in Mother Jones' life. It includes a description of her early years, before she became a labor activist, and some of the highlights of her labor career. Her activities in organizing miners in West Virginia and Colorado receive most emphasis, but also included are her activities among women brewery workers, her participation in the 1919 steel strike at Homestead, Pennsylvania, her interest in the Mexican Revolution of 1911, her views on woman suffrage and prohibition, her meetings with various presidents and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and her friendship with Terence V. Powderly, fellow labor activist. The narration follows closely that of THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MOTHER JONES, published in 1925 by Charles H. Kerr & Co., Chicago, Ill., with the addition of some chapters on her life after 1925. The second part (106pp.) is entitled "The Last Years of Mother Jones (Personal Reminiscences)." It is a narration of the later years of Mother Jones' life, ca.1927-1930, most of which she spent under the care of the author, Lillie May Burgess, at the Burgess home in Hyattsville, Maryland. Mrs. Burgess relates the circumstances under which Mother Jones and she became friends, how Mother Jones came to live with the Burgess family in 1927, and what these years of her life were like.
West Virginia and Regional History Center

Paul Nyden, Collector, Five Unpublished Manuscripts Dealing with Coal Mining, Miners, and Unions, 1932/1975

0.77 Linear Feet 9 1/4 in. (1 document case, 5 in.); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Five unpublished manuscripts relating to coal mining, miners, and unions, in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
(1) Tom Myerscough, Bloody Hell in Kentucky, circa 1932, a fictionalized account of the National Miners Union strike in Harlan County, Kentucky, in 1931. Myerscough became an organizer and then president of the National Miners Union.
(2) Adam Getto, Autobiography, 1975, an autobiography of his experiences as a union section leader at Bethlehem Steel's Ellsworth Mine in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania.
(3) Miriam Schultz, Bread Upon the Waters, circa 1970, a novel about coal miners in western Pennsylvania.
(4) Miriam Schultz, "Larry Corcoran," circa 1970, a short story about a coal miner in western Pennsylvania.
(5) Tony Sabo, Stripped Naked in Public, circa 1971, an autobiographical account about his life in coal towns in northern West Virginia and his work in the Welfare Rights Organization.
Microfilm contains copies of Autobiography, Stripped Naked in Public, and "Larry Corcoran."

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Paul Nyden, Collector, Five Unpublished Manuscripts Dealing with Coal Mining, Miners, and Unions, 1932/1975 0.77 Linear Feet 9 1/4 in. (1 document case, 5 in.); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (1 reel of microfilm, 1.75 in.)

Nyden, Paul

Five unpublished manuscripts relating to coal mining, miners, and unions, in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
(1) Tom Myerscough, Bloody Hell in Kentucky, circa 1932, a fictionalized account of the National Miners Union strike in Harlan County, Kentucky, in 1931. Myerscough became an organizer and then president of the National Miners Union.
(2) Adam Getto, Autobiography, 1975, an autobiography of his experiences as a union section leader at Bethlehem Steel's Ellsworth Mine in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania.
(3) Miriam Schultz, Bread Upon the Waters, circa 1970, a novel about coal miners in western Pennsylvania.
(4) Miriam Schultz, "Larry Corcoran," circa 1970, a short story about a coal miner in western Pennsylvania.
(5) Tony Sabo, Stripped Naked in Public, circa 1971, an autobiographical account about his life in coal towns in northern West Virginia and his work in the Welfare Rights Organization.
Microfilm contains copies of Autobiography, Stripped Naked in Public, and "Larry Corcoran."

West Virginia and Regional History Center

Thurman I. Miller Papers, 1907/2017

2.4 Linear Feet 2 ft. 5 in. (1 record carton, 15 in.); (2 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 1 in.); (3 rolled oversize items, 3 in. each) 12.4 Gigabytes 5849 files, formats are primarily .jpg and .tif but also include .doc, .rtf, and .pdf among others

Papers of Thurman Irving "T.I." Miller (1919-2017), a native of southern West Virginia who served in the Marine Corps from 1939-1945, worked as a master electrician in the coal mining industry, and authored multiple books about both those experiences later in life.

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Thurman I. Miller Papers, 1907/2017 2.4 Linear Feet 2 ft. 5 in. (1 record carton, 15 in.); (2 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 1 in.); (3 rolled oversize items, 3 in. each) 12.4 Gigabytes 5849 files, formats are primarily .jpg and .tif but also include .doc, .rtf, and .pdf among others

Miller, Thurman I., 1919-

Papers of Thurman Irving "T.I." Miller (1919-2017), a native of southern West Virginia who served in the Marine Corps from 1939-1945, worked as a master electrician in the coal mining industry, and authored multiple books about both those experiences later in life.

West Virginia and Regional History Center

United Mine Workers of America, Health and Retirement Funds, Records, 1915/1989

183.71 Linear Feet 183 ft. 8.5 in. (2 document cases, 2.5 in. each); (314 document cases, 5 in. each); (39 records cartons, 15 in. each); (1 oversize box, 3 in.); (1 oversize box, 6 in.) (6 ledgers, 3 in. each); (2 document rolls, 5.5 in.); (3 motion pictures, 4 in.)

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) archives consists of the records of the first industry-wide pension and medical care plans for coal miners and their families in the United States. The archives comprise approximately 156 linear feet of records from the years 1946-1974, and include minutes, resolutions, correspondence, memos, reports, transcribed speeches, lawsuit documents, construction plans, contracts, statistical reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, microfilmed reading files, sound recordings, and movie film.

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United Mine Workers of America, Health and Retirement Funds, Records, 1915/1989 183.71 Linear Feet 183 ft. 8.5 in. (2 document cases, 2.5 in. each); (314 document cases, 5 in. each); (39 records cartons, 15 in. each); (1 oversize box, 3 in.); (1 oversize box, 6 in.) (6 ledgers, 3 in. each); (2 document rolls, 5.5 in.); (3 motion pictures, 4 in.)

United Mine Workers of America. Health and Retirement Funds

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) archives consists of the records of the first industry-wide pension and medical care plans for coal miners and their families in the United States. The archives comprise approximately 156 linear feet of records from the years 1946-1974, and include minutes, resolutions, correspondence, memos, reports, transcribed speeches, lawsuit documents, construction plans, contracts, statistical reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, microfilmed reading files, sound recordings, and movie film.

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