Interview with Minnie Long, October 23, 1988

Partial Transcript: Ms. Long, we've talked before and this is, uh, so this is the second interview. I want you to focus on McRoberts, um, I'll ask some very specific questions about the town.

Segment Synopsis: Long talks about what McRoberts was like when she visited the first time. She talks about what it was like when it was new. She talks about the recreation building and the clubhouse. She explains that though outsiders came and saw how terrible conditions were, the people who lived in mining camps didn't see themselves as poor because everyone was poor and they didn't know anything different.

Keywords: Boardinghouses; Buildings; Coal camps; Coal mines; Houses; McRoberts (Ky.); Mining towns; Officials; Poverty; Railroad; Reporters; Schools; Tipples; Towns

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Mining camps

Partial Transcript: Um, there were just a small number of people in your high school graduating class.

Segment Synopsis: Long talks about going to high school first in Whitesburg and then in McRoberts. She talks about women's social lives in the mining camps.

Keywords: Churches; Clothes; Coal companies; Graduating; High school; Paychecks; Scrip; Sisters; Social classes; Socializing; Vacations; Women's clubs

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Education--Appalachian Region; Mining camps

Partial Transcript: Do you feel like, um, you--when you left Whitesburg to go to McRoberts, that you were going to a rougher place or somehow and not as a refined--

Segment Synopsis: Long discusses the pros and cons of the mines being unionized. She discusses the prices for food, entertainment, and other needs.

Keywords: Class divisions; Family; McRoberts (Ky).; Money; Moving; Prices; Social classes; Spending; Towns; Unionizing

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Have I not asked anything that you think was real important and you want to put on this tape?

Segment Synopsis: Long talks about the unionizing trouble in Harlan and the reporters who wrote about the strikes. She discusses more about how the locals resented what reporters wrote about poverty.

Keywords: Coal camps; Harlan (Ky.); McRoberts (Ky.); National Miners; Reporters; Strikes; Union; Unionizing; Virginia

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions--Kentucky; Poverty--Appalachian Region