Anthracite Casualties

[Alan Sondheim]

Anthracite Casualties


The estimates of the number of men and boys dying in the anthracite
minefields of Pennsylvania from the mid 1800s through the first few
decades of the 20th century seem to vary a great deal. The particular
volume illustrated below lists 1622 deaths for the three years 1910-1912.
The fields covered a very small area, including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre,
my home town. I believe the total deaths during this period reached
50,000.

The 11 images are from an illustrated booklet, used to teach miners safety
measures, as well as limited English. Most of the miners were from Eastern
Europe. The images are from the Report of the Department of Mines in
Pennsylvania.

http://www.asondheim.org/nine mine jpgs


_