Coalcracker Culture: Work and Values in Pennsylvania Anthracite, 1835-1935
"Coalcracker Culture traces the evolution of a distinct regional culture in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. The study begins by establishing the region's industrial and social contexts. With a handful of companies controlling over ninety percent of total production, the anthracite industry was one of the most formidable cartels in American history. Overcapitalization, first in the form of excess plant and, later, as a large bonded debt, forced the cartel to maintain low labor...
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Aurand (emeritus, history, The Pennsylvania State U.), who grew up in one of the anthracite coal mining towns whose society he describes, drew on interviews, oral history collections, industry archives, government publications, historical archives, and contemporary newspapers and trade journals for his research. The first two sections describe the geographical setting, town life, working conditions, pay, and sociology of the work life in the mines. These provide the context for the book's final section, where the values shared among the coal miners are analyzed and described. Distributed by Associated University Presses. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Introduction7Pt. IThe Setting1The Region and Its Industry132Life in the Coal Towns24Pt. IIWork3The Colliery394Working Conditions595The Sociology of Work706Pay82Pt. IIIValues7The Great Fear978Self-Reliance1079Reciprocity11510Inferiority and Pride122Notes128Select Bibliography147Index155
