Conference to focus on black miners in region
The contributions of blacks to coal mining will be explored in a conference being held next month at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. “Living Together, Working Together: African-American Miners and the Coal Culture of Southwestern Pennsylvania, 1870-1970′ is being sponsored by Penn State Fayette’s Coal and Coke Heritage Center and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
The three-day conference scheduled for March 15-17 at the campus, located on Route 119 north of Uniontown, will feature Cecil E. Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers, as keynote speaker. Other panels and sessions will include both local speakers as well as scholars from as far away as Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Louisiana.
A historical marker commemorating the importance of the Connellsville coke region will be dedicated and an open house will be held at the Coal and Coke Heritage Center, now undergoing renovation.
According to information supplied by the heritage center, “The conference will bring together interested scholars and citizens in an effort to explore the cultural history of African-American miners and their families in the bituminous coalfields of southwestern Pennsylvania and surrounding regions.’
Dr. Gib Prettyman, associate professor of English and faculty liaison for the Coal and Coke Heritage Center, explained the Pennsylvania Heritage and Museum Commission (PHMC) approached the heritage center about writing a grant for the conference.
“They see it as an area of Pennsylvania history that hasn’t been adequately studied,’ said Prettyman.
Karen James of the Bureau of Archives and History at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission said officials first looked at doing strictly a scholarly conference, but that changed.
“We realized there weren’t many scholars working on the topic. So I said, ‘Let’s change this and make it a conference to encourage scholars to come into southwestern Pennsylvania and take another look and include African-American men in their studies,” said James.
She said, “I hope it will shine a light on southwestern Pennsylvania generally and specifically look at African-Americans in the mining industry.’
James will moderate a roundtable discussion on oral histories and genealogies on Friday, March 16, that will include Joe Mickens of Fairchance and the Rev. Howard Dantzler of Smithfield as speakers. Both Mickens and Dantzler are the sons of coal miners and have been working with Penn State officials on the conference.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be a good turnout. I think it’s a good thing that we try to find history from different cultures and aspects – the heritage of coal mining,’ said Mickens, who is retired from the health field and who’s father, grandfather and uncles were coal miners.
Dantzler, who taught sociology at Penn State Fayette and whose father and older brothers were coal miners, said, “You can’t deny the fact that blacks played a major role in the mining history and the history of southwestern Pennsylvania.’
He said, “The important thing is that people will come to know the background and origin of attitudes towards one another. Some of these aren’t too complimentary.’
But he said these attitudes “need to be understood to be overcome.’
Pamela Seighman, curator of the Coal and Coke Heritage Center, explained the PHMC awarded a matching grant of $12,000 for the conference and to do renovations of the heritage center.
To further pay for the renovations, the heritage center received a $5,000 grant from the Rivers of Steel state heritage park as well as private donations.
Penn State Fayette is contributing the labor while the grants are paying for materials and the new design, which was created by Greg Pytlik of Pytlik Designs in Pittsburgh. The renovations are estimated to cost between $16,000 and $17,000 and will be completed in time for the conference. They will divide the displays into three main topics: coal, coke and community.
The conference will open on Thursday, March 15, with a historical marker dedication at 6:30 p.m. in Swimmer Hall, Williams Building. Seighman noted the marker later would be erected on campus. Speakers will include Angela Zimmerlink, Fayette County commissioner, and Joseph A. Sbaffoni, chief of the Bituminous Mine Safety Division of the Department of Environmental Protection. This will be immediately followed by the open house in the Coal and Coke Heritage Center.
Roberts will speak at 8:45 a.m. Friday, March 16, in the Maggie Hardy Magerko Auditorium in the Community Center, followed by the roundtable discussion on oral histories and genealogy and afternoon scholarly panels in the Eberly Building. There will be a Frank A. Melega mural and photo display.
A Community History Fair is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 17, with local history groups invited to display information in a casual, fair-like atmosphere. Independent researchers and genealogists are invited to bring family photos and stories to share while experts will discuss local history and collections and free refreshments will be served. Speakers will talk about African-Americans in early Fayette County, collecting oral histories and African-American genealogy in southwestern Pennsylvania.
There is a registration fee for Friday’s sessions. The historical marker dedication and community history fair are free to the public. For more information or to register online, visit the Web site at www.coalandcokepsu.org.
For a conference brochure, call the heritage center at 724-430-4158.