Bringing down the mountains : the impact of mountaintop removal surface coal mining on southern West Virginia communities, 1970-2004

To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Monongah, West Virginia mine disaster, the West Virginia University Press is honored to carry Davitt McAteer’s definitive history of the worst industrial accident in U.S. history. Monongah documents the events that led to the explosion, which claimed hundreds of lives on the morning of December 6, 1907. Nearly thirty years of exhaustive research have led McAteer to the conclusion that close to 500 men and boys—many of them immigrants—lost their lives that day, leaving hundreds of women widowed and more than one thousand children orphaned. McAteer delves deeply into the personalities, economic forces, and social landscape of the mining communities of north central West Virginia at the beginning of the twentieth century. The tragedy at Monongah led to a greater awareness of industrial working conditions, and ultimately to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, which Davitt McAteer helped to enact.

Coal is West Virginia’s bread and butter. For more than a century, West Virginia has answered the energy call of the nation—and the world—by mining and exporting its coal. In 2004, West Virginia’s coal industry provided almost forty thousand jobs directly related to coal, and it contributed $3.5 billion to the state’s gross annual product. And in the same year, West Virginia led the nation in coal exports, shipping over 50 million tons of coal to twenty-three countries. Coal has made millionaires of some and paupers of many. For generations of honest, hard-working West Virginians, coal has put food on tables, built homes, and sent students to college. But coal has also maimed, debilitated, and killed.

Bringing Down the Mountains provides insight into how mountaintop removal has affected the people and the land of southern West Virginia. It examines the mechanization of the mining industry and the power relationships between coal interests, politicians, and the average citizen. Shirley Stewart Burns holds a BS in news-editorial journalism, a master’s degree in social work, and a PhD in history with an Appalachian focus, from West Virginia University. A native of Wyoming County in the southern West Virginia coalfields and the daughter of an underground coal miner, she has a passionate interest in the communities, environment, and histories of the southern West Virginia coalfields. She lives in Charleston, West Virginia.

New paperback edition with an introduction by Robert B. Reich Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster documents the events and conditions that led to the worst industrial accident in the history of the United States. This mining accident claimed hundreds of lives on the morning of December 6, 1907 and McAteer, an expert on mine and workplace health and safety, delves deeply into the economic forces and social-political landscape of the mining communities of north central West Virginia to expose the truth behind this tragedy. After nearly thirty years of exhaustive research, McAteer determines that close to 500 men and boys—many of them immigrants—lost their lives that day, leaving hundreds of women widowed and more than one thousand children orphaned. The tragedy at Monongah led to a greater awareness of industrial working conditions, and ultimately to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, which McAteer helped to enact. This new paperback edition includes an introduction by Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration. "To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Monongah, West Virginia mine disaster, the West Virginia University Press is honored to release Davitt McAteer's definitive history of the worst industrial accident in US history. Monongah documents the events which led to the explosion that claimed hundreds of lives on the morning of December 6, 1907. Nearly thirty years of exhaustive research have led McAteer to the conclusion that close to 500 men and boys--many of them immigrants--lost their lives that day, leaving hundreds of women widowed and more than 1,000 children orphaned. McAteer delves deeply into the personalities, economic forces, and social landscape of the mining communities of north central West Virginia at the beginning of the twentieth century. The tragedy at Monongah led to a greater awareness of industrial working conditions, and ultimately to the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, which Davitt McAteer helped to enact." -- Book Jacket Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) Introduction (Robert B. Reich, page 1) 1 J. H. Leonard, Oiler for the No. 6 Mine (page 3) 2 The Northern Coal Fields of West Virginia (page 7) 3 Lester Emmitt Trader: Assistant Fire Boss at Age 22 (page 17) 4 The Company Men (page 27) 5 The Mining Companies: The Early Years (page 36) 6 The City of Mines (page 44) 7 Immigrants Wanted (page 74) 8 "Hire Bands or Anything That Is Necessary" (page 91) 9 And The Explosion Came (page 114) 10 Escape and Rescue (page 125) 11 "They Are All Gone" (page 141) 12 "We Know So Little About How These Explosions Occur" (page 158) 13 The Mononogah Mine Relief Fund in Aid of Sufferers from the Mononogah Mine Explosion (page 171) 14 Wheels of Justice (page 199) 15 The Number (page 218) 16 "An End to This Huge Loss and Waste" (page 242) 17 The Conscience of a Nation (page 265) Postscript (page 269) Notes (page 272) Bibliography (page 288) Index (page 324)