Growing Up in Coal Country

Accurate description of a time long past in the Wyoming Valley, PA.

I am a West Virginia History teacher and always looking for material to add to my lessons about the state. Coal is an important and vital industry in this state and I want my students to understand that through the use of various media. Although Bartoletti's book is about Western Pennsylvania coal towns, many in West Virginia were identical in those times. She gives very vivid details of the various types of jobs one could find in the coal mines of the early19th century, and what the lives of the miners and their families were like. Based on her relative's life in the mines, she brings all the hardships faced and the sacrifices made by those who chose to work in a dangerous job known as coal mining to light. I plan to have my students listen to the audio tape and make comparisons and contrasts between the Western Pennsylvania coal industry and West Virginia coal industry .

What a great resource. Concise simple terms. Easy read. Informative , interesting. Shows a whole different side of the coal mining industry including mine hierarchy. It was a fast read, but not fast enough before I could finish it my 88 year old mother who grew up in a mining town swiped it ! Excellent for school libraries,explaining family history understanding the past, measuring progress and enforcing worker's rights for which these did not have and latter people fought to obtain. This is real American blood sweat and tears history that helped to build this country.

I wanted to read about this as my grandparents immigrated to the coal country in central Illinois.

I loved this book. I bought the audio version and have listened to it in its entirety twice over the last few days. I provides a clear albeit brief glimpse into the sometimes desperate lives of the resilient men, women, and children who lived in coal towns and worked in the mines. The author moves from descriptions of playful pranks to ones of sudden and terrible tragedy as quickly as the events likely occurred. And when you're done, if you're like me, you'll only wish that there was more.

This is short summary of what coal miners endured in providing an important fuel for the industrial revolution. She describes child labor, where 12-year old boys quit school to help support their family by becoming "breaker boys" in coal mines. They committed themselves to a career of hard work at high risk jobs and bad health in their adult years. Those believing that the new administration's interest in bringing back coal jobs is good for the nation should read this book.

While trying to better understand my ancestors' lives, I have purchased several short books showing workers in Pennsylvania's anthracite colliaries of a century or more ago. This one is my favorite. It has a very good balance of text and appropriate related photos. It clearly describes the tasks of the various laborers inside the mines and breakers, and life in the mining areas. It includes personnal anecdotes from the workers that help give it life and humor. I found it easy and enjoyable to read, and I learned a lot.

I initially bought this book because my grandmother grew up in that time and place (Pennsylvania, circa 1910). This book offers an incredible glimpse into the lives of the men and boys (and mules) who worked in the coal mines. This book provided a riveting and sobering look at that period in history, and helped me envision the world my grandmother grew up in. Once I started looking at it, I couldn't put it down. It is an informative and moving account and I recommend it highly.