Background Information for Teachers
At the turn of the 20th century, Pennsylvania was at the center of the United States coal mining industry. Pennsylvania coal mines produced tens of millions of tons of anthracite and bituminous coal each year. In 1917 coal production in Pennsylvania peaked. Anthracite mines produced 100 million tons of coal; bituminous, 177 million tons. Men, boys, and mules powered these tremendous operations by working in tough conditions, both above and under the ground.
Through union activity, miners struggled for and achieved improved wages and working conditions in the last half of the 19th century. Even so, by 1900 mining was still far from a well-paying and safe job. Due to the low pay fathers earned, and in spite of the unsafe working conditions, many families sent their young sons to work for the coal companies as a way to supplement their household incomes.
In 1902 Pennsylvania had laws that required a minimum age of 14 to work at coal jobs above ground (such as in the breaker), and 16 to work in the mines. This law was seldom enforced, however. Coal operators and parents shared an interest in getting around this law, even if they had different reasons for it. (Parents wished to have their sons employed to earn more money for their families, and companies wished to use the cheapest labor they could find.) All a father had to do was obtain an "age blank" or certificate from a mining inspector, write the age he wanted his son to be, and pay a fee to have it notarized. With no compulsory birth registration laws, there were no official records with which to compare the age affidavits. In this way, countless boys were officially listed as "small for fourteen". The story of Patrick Kearney presented in this lesson offers a tragic example of this practice. (According to his affidavit, 9 1/2 year-old Patrick was 14 years of age.) In 1908 the National Child Labor Committee estimated that one in four mine workers was a boy aged seven to sixteen.
What types of work did these boys do? They typically began their work for the coal company in the breaker, a tall building above the mines where coal was cleaned, crushed, and sorted by size. The boys manually picked pieces of stone and slate from the coal before it was processed. The conditions were dusty, noisy, and physically demanding. Breaker boys sat on backless benches to do their jobs, often for 10- to 12-hour shifts.
The next job up the ranks for a boy was to be a trapper, or nipper, down in the mines. These boys opened and closed heavy wooden doors that were used to close off mineshafts so fresh air pumped from the surface reached workers. When coal cars came by, these boys had to spring into action to open the door before the fast-moving cars reached them. This job's environment, as opposed to the dust and noise of the breaker, was damp and pitch black. The long stretches of silence and inactivity made it difficult to avoid boredom or falling asleep on the job.
Next, a boy might advance and become a mule driver. The main advantage of having this job was that a boy could move around the mines using a team of one to six mules to pick up loaded cars and drop off empty ones. This job had its dangers, since the low ceiling clearances were difficult to see in the pitch black mines. If a boy successfully worked his way up to driving a six-mule team, he began drawing a man's wages. From there, he could become a miner and start earning pay by the amount of coal he dug.
As can be seen in "Mr. Coal's Story", boys were also employed as greasers and general utility boys. Growing Up in Coal Country by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (see STUDENT REFERENCES), provides an excellent background to the jobs and conditions boys, as well as men, had in coal mines. It also provides detailed descriptions of life in coal patch towns.
Through union activity, miners struggled for and achieved improved wages and working conditions in the last half of the 19th century. Even so, by 1900 mining was still far from a well-paying and safe job. Due to the low pay fathers earned, and in spite of the unsafe working conditions, many families sent their young sons to work for the coal companies as a way to supplement their household incomes.
In 1902 Pennsylvania had laws that required a minimum age of 14 to work at coal jobs above ground (such as in the breaker), and 16 to work in the mines. This law was seldom enforced, however. Coal operators and parents shared an interest in getting around this law, even if they had different reasons for it. (Parents wished to have their sons employed to earn more money for their families, and companies wished to use the cheapest labor they could find.) All a father had to do was obtain an "age blank" or certificate from a mining inspector, write the age he wanted his son to be, and pay a fee to have it notarized. With no compulsory birth registration laws, there were no official records with which to compare the age affidavits. In this way, countless boys were officially listed as "small for fourteen". The story of Patrick Kearney presented in this lesson offers a tragic example of this practice. (According to his affidavit, 9 1/2 year-old Patrick was 14 years of age.) In 1908 the National Child Labor Committee estimated that one in four mine workers was a boy aged seven to sixteen.
What types of work did these boys do? They typically began their work for the coal company in the breaker, a tall building above the mines where coal was cleaned, crushed, and sorted by size. The boys manually picked pieces of stone and slate from the coal before it was processed. The conditions were dusty, noisy, and physically demanding. Breaker boys sat on backless benches to do their jobs, often for 10- to 12-hour shifts.
The next job up the ranks for a boy was to be a trapper, or nipper, down in the mines. These boys opened and closed heavy wooden doors that were used to close off mineshafts so fresh air pumped from the surface reached workers. When coal cars came by, these boys had to spring into action to open the door before the fast-moving cars reached them. This job's environment, as opposed to the dust and noise of the breaker, was damp and pitch black. The long stretches of silence and inactivity made it difficult to avoid boredom or falling asleep on the job.
Next, a boy might advance and become a mule driver. The main advantage of having this job was that a boy could move around the mines using a team of one to six mules to pick up loaded cars and drop off empty ones. This job had its dangers, since the low ceiling clearances were difficult to see in the pitch black mines. If a boy successfully worked his way up to driving a six-mule team, he began drawing a man's wages. From there, he could become a miner and start earning pay by the amount of coal he dug.
As can be seen in "Mr. Coal's Story", boys were also employed as greasers and general utility boys. Growing Up in Coal Country by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (see STUDENT REFERENCES), provides an excellent background to the jobs and conditions boys, as well as men, had in coal mines. It also provides detailed descriptions of life in coal patch towns.
