(Part 1) An Appalachian Coal Miner From West Virginia: Mine Disasters, Strikes and More
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- An Appalachian Coal Miner From Days Gone By in West Virginia: Mine Disasters, Strikes and More in This Interview
One of the highlights of my time learning and sharing Appalachian history is this interview with Dewey Hardy. I've known Dewey essentially my whole life as we attended to the same church and I went to high school with his son Max. It is amazing what you can learn about someone, even a person you think you know a lot about, if you spend an hour talking to them about their life.
Dewey was born and raised in McDowell County, West Virginia, and discusses his early life, his start in coal mining in the 1950s, and his experiences with mine disasters and union strikes in this video. I broke the video up in segments due to the length of the interview. This first segment should give you a good start in learning a little about life growing up in a coal mining town in Southern West Virginia. I will post the rest in the future.
I hope you enjoy watching these segments as much as I enjoyed talking to Dewey. - Shane
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A man of few words who tells a captivating story
My dad was a miner and 50 when I was born. He never learned to read or write. He did manual labor. I was on my own after high school. I left, joined the USAF, learned a bit of electronics, fixed jet fighter avionics. When my 4 years was up and after 2 days of unemployment I joined IBM working on $million computers in 1968. After that beginning I rode the technology tech wave of computers and still do. I'm pushing 80 now and plan to assemble a couple of new PCs this year for wife and me. I still trying to keep up.
Though I have fond memories of those hills, I came from immigrants as did most of us, people with drive to moved on. The earliest arrivals in my family tree, I discovered in the last few years, landed in Jamestown, VA in 1619. My 8th Great Grand Parents. They came on different boats and married a couple of years later.
Those are my heroes, they were truly a part of 17th Century, they rode different waves. They didn't re-live their parent's lives.
Very nice gentleman - shows us all how much we don't know - in the modern day..... Appreciate you Sir
Sounds like my grandmother during her early years in Dunbar. My grandfather was a coal miner. Well, they had a garden and a horse. When I came along, my grandfather has passed away. We still. had a big garden, but no horse. People back in the 20s, 30s, and 40s was hard for many people due to the Depression and WWII. If families had a little piece of land where they could grow their food, they were considered wealthy. Shane, you did an awesome job with this interview.
Thanks so much. If I had a nickel for every time I heard an old timer refer to it as "Hoover Days"
Great interview. God bless that man. My Grandfather was a coal miner for US Coal & Coke and was killed in 1927. He's buried in the Thorpe Cemetery....a cemetery owned by the coal company in Gary, WV. I also have the legal paperwork from McDowell County and the US Coal & Coke kicking my grandmother and her 4 small children out of their coal company housing after my grandfather's death. (Nobody working for the coal company? Get out.) I bear them no ill will... things were different then. Next year will be 95 years since his death. Rest in peace Grandpa.
great comment, loving reading personal stories like that - such a common bond
I drove threw Gary today. Want to golf out there soon
@@tapptom... Hiya Tom, I apologize for not replying sooner. Grandpa's name is Roman Szczepanski, but everything on his grave stone is written in Polish, and his name on the stone appears as "Romana Szczepanskiego". I was told that the suffix "ego" on his last name means "the body of" in Polish. It was pretty hard for me to track down any documents on Grandpa because EVERY official paper that I have with his name on it has an incorrect spelling. Sometimes his name is listed as "Pensky" sometimes "Szeznski" ...sometimes "Szepenski" and sometimes "Szczepanskieco". Grandpa's funeral service was at Our Lady of Victory church in Gary and he's buried at Thorpe Cemetery in Gary. (Thorpe was incorporated into Gary in 1971.) I've got 2 great old photos, 1 of the family and friends and American flag on the church steps with the open coffin propped up on the steps....the other photo of crowd of over 90 people in the cemetery, coffin again open, American flag, lots of children and even a dog or 2. A big crowd for a coal miner. Tom I'm not sure what section of the cemetery Grandpa is in....it's been 35 years since I was there but I do remember walking over a small bridge. If you have an email I'd be happy to send you copies of the photos if you're interested.
I absolutely loved this! Thank you!
Glad you liked it, thank you 😊
I love these types of interviews! I could literally sit for days watching them. Can’t wait to see the rest!
i'm so glad you enjoyed it....and that you reminded me I need to post the rest of the interview lol
@@realappalachia lol! Well then I’m doubly glad I came back to watch it again!
Great interview. He is a very interesting man.
The word he is thinking of is barometric pressure. It is used (well... used to be before micro-manometers) along with air flow to determine a mines ventilation model. The reason it is not used anymore, its found to not be very accurate except in shafts or bulkheads.
Watching this interview with this guy sure hit home. I had an uncle that was killed in the No.9 coal mine in Farmington, WV . There were I believe 78 miners killed. Some got out alive and some came out injured bad and others lost their lives. They kept searching for the miners and brought some bodies out and most were just identified by their dog tags as they called them. That is how they identified my uncle. There were more miners still in the mine but it got so dangerous and they knew that they weren’t going to bring anyone else out alive so they had to stop their search. They came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to seal the mine. So someone’s loved ones are still in the mine. It will definitely be something that I will never forget.
Prayers an hugs! I feel your pain. My dad was recovered from the mine but was presumed dead on impact. Welch WV in Eckman Pocky mine.
I would love to meet this young man. 😌 My dad was a fatality in May 72 at Eckman-page mine. Loading machine operator- rib fall at entry #3.
So very sorry to hear of your loss, a tough industry to be sure
Thanks for sharing the interview. I knew a lot of guys like Dewey, went into the service, got out and came back home to work for a livin' and raise a family. As he said in his early years a lot of folks had a little "farm" to help them live. They needed only a minimum of things from the stores to subsist. Life was simpler and more basic.
Glad you enjoyed it, you got that perspective right on
Laz.....You're right on the money. Things have changed so much in the last 70 years, we have so much technology, medicine, science....but is life better? In some ways yes....in some ways no. I feel sorry for the kids growing up now. They'll never know the enjoyment we had with just the basics. Staring at a screen all day isn't real life. Friends are people you
see....touch....hug...punch....laugh and cry with. Not a number on a screen. I wish them luck.....they're gonna need it.
Laz- That was what my dad did, he was in the Army and did 2 tours in Nam- came back home and 15 months later was killed in the coal mine. I was 8 months old. Only child. Dad earned the Bronze Star, Purple Hearts, and many medals. He was 26 yrs old when he died. 😥
God Bless him and all coal miners, past and present!!
amen to that
If there is a Part 2 I hope you will post it.
Finally did it lol, thanks for the reminder
How informative and how neat that you interviewed your neighbor. Thank you! We can learn so much from our elders.
The Northern Field coal mines of Louisville, Lafayette, Marshall and Erie, Colorado are all closed now. When I went to CU in the mid-seventies I was working the night shift at a nursing home. A lot of the men suffered from Black Lung. Mr. Higgins was a night owl, so I’d go into his room and listen to his coal-mining stories. Boy, I wish I had recorded him!
I bet he had some great stories to tell
@@realappalachia I should have been studying homework, but I had the feeling I was learning more from him.
@@johnnielson7676 I'm sure you probably learned as much or more from those conversations. I kick myself in the pants that I didnt document more of them when I was younger. So much to learn from their experiences. I got a letter from you today and I have to say a huge thanks, you're way too kind. We really appreciate it.
God bless this gentleman
This was such an interesting interview! Can't wait for the rest of it! This gentleman seems so humble about his life even though it seemed he worked very hard. God bless him & his family! Thanks, Shane, for doing this. Blessings on you always!
Thank you so much, Debbie
Thanks for finding this interview Shane! I could have listened to him for hours! Stay safe and tell Melody I said "hello!" 🤗
thanks for watching and I am talking to Melody now so I will send her your sentiments. thanks again.
Fantastic interview. He reminds me of my grandparents - they're from a pottery town in the UK. When I think of real Americans, this is the kind of guy I think of. I'm really enjoying your channel anyway mate.
I really enjoyed this interview. My dad was born in Welch and my grandfather worked the mines in that area as well. Makes me wonder if this gentleman would have known my grandfather. Great channel!
Ditto. But my dad.
Thank you for this one. Reminds me of my Dad. He was older but i remember his stories of growing up in Jolo, McDowell county, West Virginia. I wish he was still around to tell me the stories of the mines and the people and things. Miss that from him. Enjoyed this man's stories too.
thank you so much, I kick myself in the pants for missing out on stories too
Wish more TV shows and focus on West Virginia/Appalachia featured more gentlemen like this one. Great interview!
Thank you
Hes from the amonate/squire area? But on the WV side
He was smart to take a chance, and find an opportunity to learn something new and work on equipment! Rewards come to those who take risks.
Is there a Part Two, Shane? I can't seem to find it....
- Ed on the Ridge
My G grandfather, Felix Horvat, lived in Monongah WV nineteen-teens, worked for Consolidated Mines.
My grandfather Nick Horvat, was baptised in the church there.
Thanks Shane. Enjoyed the conversation. Love to learn more.
i have about 30 more minutes i will share in the future, thanks for the comment
This is so interesting as doing my genealogy and knowing that my grandfather worked in the ole mines
they were a rough way to live
Loved the interview, can you please make a interview of the modern day family, as we are moving to west Virginia
Love the stories thank you see you soon
Glad you enjoyed it, Donna
Great interview, very interesting to hear someone's history. Thank you for the video!
Thanks so much, Sierra
🏴Been hearing lots of Scottish coal miners went to Appalachia
That’s true
Thanks for the video Shane
really glad you enjoyed it, Alicia
Thank you for this....
glad you enjoyed it, Wayne
Excellent Interview.
thanks so much, Charlie
Good interview. He seems like a nice gentleman. The world could use more or him...
ain't that the truth...thank you
@@realappalachia BTW. My grandfather helped open Amanote back in the 30's
Love hearing that, Amonate is a special place to me
Both my grandpas had black lung, without them my brothers and sisters wouldnt be here ,great realbillie people
My dad and brothers and sister were born the Great Depression in Central, WV. Two of my uncles were coal miners as that was all there was. They live to their 60's but died of black lung. My dad chose to go into the army instead and was in the Army Corp of Engineers during the Korean War.
so sad to see how many passed to black lung
I hope you guy's read the comment I sent on one of your videos about me moving to west Virginia I would love alittle help from some locals..thank you..