American coal miner: a report on community and living conditions in the coalfields

Book · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5560459

This report represents the first major documentation of coalfield community and living conditions since the Boone Report of 1947, ''A Medical Survey of the Bituminous-Coal Industry'' was published by the Coal Mines Administration of the Department of the Interior in 1947 in response to a demand by John L. Lewis for improvements in public health and medical treatment at the mines and in the coal camps. The situation in 1979 is very different from what it was in 1947. Not only do the coal miners enjoy a much more comfortable lifestyle and significantly improved quality of health care, but also a much higher percentage of miners are employed at surface mines, many of which are now in the western States. During the decade of the 1970s, women entered the mining work force, often after successfully seeking legal action under Federal Equal Employment Opportunity statutes. Many problems remain in the coalfields. There is vast room for improvement in the areas of housing and highways. Health care facilities and services are less extensively available than in more urban areas. Coal mining remains the most dangerous of occupations, despite considerable improvements in coal mine health and safety. The progress achieved by coal miners over their counterparts of earlier generations cannot be denied. Thirty years ago, the miner and his family were still living in coal camps, often in conditions of poverty. Today, mining communities are much more diverse, and the modern miner is, more often than not, among the resident middle class. The reality of that vast change is not widely recognized. This book concentrates on employed miners. (LTN)

• OSTI ID: 5560459
• Report Number(s): NP-24379
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
012000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
ACCIDENTS
COAL MINERS
COAL MINING
DISEASES
HEALTH SERVICES
HEARINGS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LAWS
MINERS
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
PERSONNEL
PNEUMOCONIOSES
QUALITY OF LIFE
REGULATIONS
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
ROADS
SAFETY
SOCIAL SERVICES
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
STANDARD OF LIVING
USA