Curated OER
History Matters:"rock Springs Is Killed":white Reaction to the Rock Springs Riot
Read an article from the Rock Springs Independent railng against the return of the Chinese coal miners the day after the Rock Springs Massacre that resulted in the death of several Chinese laborers.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: When Miners Strike: West Virginia Coal Mining Labor History
This collection uses primary sources to explore coal mining and labor in West Virginia.
Other
Minerals Education Coalition: Minerals Database
This resource provides photographs of and information about various minerals.
US Geological Survey
U.s. Geological Survey: Minerals Information
The USGS offers maps of the locations of mines and mineral processing plants. You can find the sources for everything from aluminum to zircon!
Minerals Ed
Coal and Metal Mining in Bc
A map of British Columbia that shows the locations of all the coal and metal mining operation in British Columbia in 2008. Each coal and mining operation is linked to a secondary web page that provides detailed information on the various...
Other
Illinois Labor History Society: Early Days of Coal Mining in Northern Illinois
Explore the coal boom of the late 1860s and learn about the difficult lives of the miners and their families.
Ancestry
Wise County Hist. Society: Coal Camps of Sw Virginia
Excellent site devoted to the coal camps of southwestern Virginia. Great pictures, historic text, and personal narratives make this a wonderful resource for information on mining communities.
Other
Rockmans Trading Post: Welcome to the Mineral Information Finder
During your lifetime, you will use more than a million pounds of rocks, minerals, and metals. Dig through this web site and find out how.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Biography of America: Capital and Labor
This thirty-minute video, the seventeenth in a series on American history, examines the rocky relationship between labor, management, and industry from 1882 to 1901. You can also read the transcript, find a map of the Anthracite Strike,...
Other
Lehigh University: The Molly Maguires
An interesting site compiled by a Lehigh University undergraduate student, regarding a secret mining organization known as the "Molly Maguires" who operated in the Pennsylvania coal mines during the latter part of the 19th century.
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Coal
Coal in North Carolina is limited to two belts of Triassic sediment: the sporadic Dan River belt and the larger Deep River belt, which runs along the Deep River in Lee, Moore, and Chatham Counties. Read on to learn about the uses and...
Other
Holmes Safety Association Bulletin: The Boys in the Breakers [Pdf]
A heartbreaking account of child labor in the coal mines at the turn of the century - 1904. Click on the article title in the table of contents to read this account published in 1904 by Peter Roberts.
Other
Kentucky Coal Association: Kentucky Coal Heritage
A brief history of coal in the state of Kentucky including explanations of scrip tokens and scatter tags.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: The Molly Maguires
Learn about the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish coal miners in Pennsylvania who led the 'Long Strike of 1875' which resulted in 20 members being unjustly hanged for murder.
Other
United Mine Workers of America: Umwa History: The Ludlow Massacre
A brief history of the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado in 1914. Read about the thwarted attempts of coal miners to unionize.
Other
Cape Breton Miners' Museum: Mine Explosion in New Waterford, 1917 [Pdf]
Sixty-five men and boys died in the 1917 mining disaster at New Waterford in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This collection of first-hand accounts has several interviews, news articles and documentation from the subsequent inquest. Reading...
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Expore Pa History: Stories From Pa History: Labor Strikes and Mine Disasters
Read about the dangers of coal mining in Pennsylvania, the emergence of unions in an attempt to protect the miners, and some of the mining disasters that took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Molly Maguires Trials (1876 77)
In 1875, a writer of the time observed, there came from coal-mining district of Pennsylvania "an appalling series of tales of murder, of arson, and of every description of violent crime." Mine company superintendents and bosses "could...
Other
Mine Safety and Health Administration: Our Page for Kids
Site from the Mine Safety and Health Administration that aims at teaching children about mining, prospecting, mine safety, and what the human body needs from natural resources.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Froggy Forecasting: How Frog Health Predicts Pond Health
Have you ever heard the expression "a canary in a coal mine"? In the 1900s and earlier, coal miners brought canaries with them into the mines to act as early warning signals. The canaries were very sensitive to low levels of dangerous...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Career Profile: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
Occupational health and safety specialists inspect workplaces to be sure all safety standards are followed. This is particularly important in dangerous jobs such as coal miners, but potential hazards can be found in all occupations. This...
Other
Msha's Page for Kids: The Dirty Children
A report on the terrible conditions children had to face in the coal mines during the late 19th century.
Curated OER
History Matters: "To This We Dissented": The Rock Springs Riot
Read the description of the Rock Springs massacre written by the Chinese workers who lived through the massacre and presented to the Chinese Consul in New York. Included is a report of an investigation of those who died in the massacre....