Preface to History of Appalachian coalminers

  Links to coalminers'   
        stories

   
ATV's (4 wheelers), that is what they are called, seen in the backs of the Ford F150 pickups that have the bumper sticker on the windshield "I coal".  Recreational vehicles are the most common vehicles speeding around the narrow, winding strips leading to the top of the mountains in Appalachia; the strip mines, and that was as far as I could go, I thought:

I was in  a dilemma , I am a wanna be greenback "historian", without the benefit of a PHD or the seasoned experience of a published textbook author.  Still, I remain a person on a mission.  I am hopelessly in love with Appalachia, my life-long residence.  I want to write about the facts, fancies, life styles, hardships, loves, coalminers, the unions, the riots, the war on poverty; the never ending stories of Appalachia.  In my attempts to honor those before me, I have contacted many of the experts in the field, they are the qualified ones, the "good" ones, the ones sporting the PHDs in Appalachian Studies, the ones with the textbooks locked up in DC that would take a Philadelphia lawyer to gain access to; I have emailed the textbooks authors, phoned the historians, and submitted a written request to the Library of Congress in DC.  To date, I have received no response, no emails, no returned phone calls, and nothing in writing from the Library of Congress.

Again, this is a dilemma for me, after a few more cups of coffee, some walking and mowing and planting and talking, I have come to terms.  By now, I have digested a lot of information, some I agree with, some are amusing paradoxes.  I have discovered most of the current storybook experts on Appalachia do not live in Appalachia; their successes have taken them beyond the green walls and although their knowledge and talent is beyond reproach, I can't get it because I live in the area.  What crosses my mind at 3 am still is trying to decide how to present coal mining in Appalachia.  First,  what good is information if you can't get it.  When you go online and key in "Appalachia"," you must have a secret password to access the material"; or, " for student and faculty" appears on the screen; "order today, will be shipped in 6 weeks"; "send $14.95, money back guaranteed", but I live in rural Appalachia and things are slow to come.  Public libraries do not carry many stories on Appalachia.  Sounds familiar, on the other hand, as the saying goes, " I can't see the forest for the trees", I am the one in the heart of Appalachia; I am the one collecting little girls' clothes for a 1st grader living far below poverty standards; I am the one trying to set up libraries in rural schools through donations; I am the one who knows people with the "real" last name of Hatfield or McCoy; I am the one signing the permission slip for A. T. Massey Coal (strip mine operation) to blast above my house and jar the windows out; I am the one working side by side with coal miners widows, wives, sons and daughters; attending the funerals and wakes of the miners killed from the above average coal mining fatalities.  I am Appalachia, I turn to the source, it is me and I am archived and password friendly.  So, I present the history of coal mining in Appalachia based on true stories from coal miners.