Thurmond: A Town Born from Coal Mines and Railroads (28)

This collection uses primary sources to explore coal mining and labor in West Virginia.

NPR has documented the Sago Mine Disaster and has also provided glimpses into the lives of mine workers and the coal culture of the Appalachians.

Explore the coal boom of the late 1860s and learn about the difficult lives of the miners and their families.

Students explore the life and times of a coal miner in Illinois through the analysis of primary source documents and images.

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.

This is an interesting encyclopedia article about the multi-ethnic town of Buxton, Iowa, a coal-mining town with little racial discrimination.

Melissa Fay Greene is the author of "Last Man Out: The Story of the Springhill Mine Disaster" a book published in 2004 about the 1958 Springhill Mine Disaster. Ms. Greene is an accomplished American author and National Book Award...

Students explore what it was like to live in a coal mining town.  For this history lesson plan, students discuss specific details about the lives of coal company workers and their families.

This fascinating museum exhibit is on how the development of the steam engine has impacted the lives of many people over the last two hundred plus years.

"It's the reason we have a thriving global market place, offering us the infinite variety of things, and it's the reason we can move cargoes from remote parts of the world at minimal cost." Learn about how small-town truck driver Malcom...