Author shares harsh realities of 1907 mine explosion

Sep. 20—FAIRMONT — For an hour on Sunday, visitors of the Fairmont State University's Folklife Center were taken back to a time in history that many West Virginians would rather forget.

Davitt McAteer, former assistant secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, talked about the 1907 Monongah mine explosion that killed several hundred miners.

McAteer was the first of three speakers invited to talk as part of the fall 2021 Phyllis W. Moore Authors Series at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the Fairmont State University campus.

McAteer published "Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster," which involved 30 years of research and thousands of reviewed documents.

The three authors chosen for this series have written books that directly relate to labor efforts of West Virginia miners. The topic is especially relevant because this year marks 100 years since the Battle at Blair Mountain. In 1921, thousands of miners marched to Logan County to protest low pay and unbearable working conditions, and is considered the largest labor uprising in U.S. history.

"Because it is the 100th anniversary of Blair Mountain, we wanted to concentrate on things that were related to labor and labor history," said Francene Kirk, interim director of the Folklife Center. "We did several things on labor history last semester but they were not all related to coal. But because of Blair Mountain, we thought we would do focus on labor issues related to coal."

McAteer's book, and his topic for Sunday's talk, centered on a time when mine safety laws were taken as suggestions rather than enforceable legislation.

"Our students are not familiar with the Monongah mine disaster, and people in the area are really interested in its history," Kirk said.

At 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, 1907, Fairmont Coal Company's No. 6 and No. 8 mines exploded, killing 500 or more miners who were working inside. The number of deaths is not exactly known because records show conflicting information.

"Official records say 362 people were killed," said McAteer, but it's probably closer to 500, and maybe more."

The explosion is still considered the worst mining disaster in American history.

McAteer's book meticulously outlines the events that led up to the explosion, and the horrific details of the disaster's mishandling.

In a tone that belied no judgment, McAteer laid out the facts that took years to uncover. "The accuracy of the information for the disaster comes in part because we have good records from the Bureau of Mines about the types of explosions," McAteer said.

The question became, McAteer said, what to do with the widows. A fundraising campaign was started by the priests of the families and a representative from the American Red Cross, Margaret Byington. This marked the first time the Red Cross assisted in a situation that was not a natural disaster.

"By sending letters to churches and newspapers around the country, $156,000 was donated," McAteer said.

Wishing to remain behind the scenes in the fundraising effort, the coal company handled the administrative side of the process by donating typewriters and other office supplies.

One person who opposed raising and distributing money to the families of the killed miners was John D. Rockefeller Jr.

"He wrote three letters stating his opinion on this," McAteer said.

As the money came in, a committee was established to "decide who was going to receive what money," McAteer said.

Family members of the miners were interviewed to determine whether or not they would need financial support, and if so, whether the widow could be trusted to handle the payout.

"They were attempting to determine how suitable the widow was to receive funds. [In some instances], the funds would be put into a trust account. Those funds would then be distributed by a committee of white males to give to these widows. This created tension as you might guess," McAteer said.

The majority of the miners killed in the Monongah disaster were Italian immigrants.

Official reports as to the cause of the explosion were changed, and in some cases, included blame on the weather or miner carelessness.

"The real cause was that they didn't clean up the coal dust in those days. They only had one watering can on a cart and the cart was incapable of carrying sufficient amounts of water to remove the coal dust," McAteer said.

"They were disregarding most of the cardinal safety practices that are in place today," McAteer said. "They simply didn't use them."

Also, The Fairmont Mining Company installed a door between mines No. 6 and 8, ostensibly to make it easier for miners to transport coal.

"But, this practice was outlawed in all European mines and every state except West Virginia," McAteer said.

The coal dust that was stirred up and exploded in one mine was able to gain traction by bursting through the door, and eventually — in a matter of seconds — turn into a bomb, causing a massive explosion that destroyed even the industrial sized multi-story fans that were used for cooling.

"December 1907 was the deadliest month in the history of American mines with 830 miners killed in that month alone," McAteer said. "And more than 3,000 miners were killed in 1907, making it the deadliest year in American mining history."

"The mine was back in operation within three weeks after the explosion," McAteer said. "And despite the loss of these two mines and all of its costs, it was a profitable year for the coal company."

At the talk and book signing, several guests spoke about their own history with the mines. "I'm tracing family history, and I'm interested in local history, and our connection with the mining disaster," said Linda Rutherford.

"Our grandmother's family immigrated from Germany. We had three great uncles that were born in Germany, and our grandmother and a sibling were born here, and the extended family lived all up through Monongah, Worthington, Enterprise and Shinnston," Rutherford said.

"Growing up, we were always told that these great uncles worked at Consolidated Coal Company — at this mine. They said if one brother would call off work, the other one would not go either. Supposedly, these great uncles had celebrated the Feast of St. Nicholas the night before, and didn't go to work on the day of the explosion," Rutherford said. "And so they were spared."

Rutherford attended the author's talk and book signing with her brother, John Everson. They said the great uncles' names were Robert, Josef and John Kann.

"I wanted to to see if there were old employment records, not of the victims, but of the people who worked there at that time," Rutherford said. "We possibly have some family connection to it, even though [our uncles] were spared."

When Rutherford asked McAteer about employment records that named people other than the victims, he said he didn't know of any, and added that most records from that time are incomplete and show conflicting information.

Next in the author series is novelist and activist Denise Giardina, who will host an online talk about her novel "Storming Heaven," a fictionalized account of the Battle at Blair Mountain, a bloody event that happened 100 years ago. The event can be accessed on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. by going to www.fairmontstate.edu/giardinawebex.

The third and final speaker in the author series is scheduled for Sept. 27 at 7 p.m., and will feature Charles B. Keeney, author of The Road to Blair Mountain: Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal. This event will take place at the Folklife Center on the Fairmont State University campus. Keeney will discuss his nine-year struggle to save the historic battle site.

To reach Lori Riley, email lriley@timeswv.com.