Interview with James C. Ward, November 18, 1988

Partial Transcript: Mr. Ward, tell me your whole name.

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about his parents, his ancestry, and his grandparents. He talks about how people would warn against going into the mines but there wasn't any other occupation. He recalls his teachers and one teacher he didn't like.

Keywords: Ancestry; Coal companies; Coal miners; Farming; Fathers; Grandparents; Mothers; Moving; Parents; Schools; Step-grandmothers; Teachers; Van Lear (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Mining camps

Partial Transcript: Um, do you remember the, uh, teachers dressing any better than anybody else in town?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about the material differences between himself and the children of the managers. He says that there wasn't any difference between them and that there were good relations between classes. He talks about the African Americans and immigrants that lived in Van Lear.

Keywords: Animals; Black people; Christmas; Class relations; Clothes; Fathers; Foreigners; Garbage; Gardens; Immigrants; Integration; Italians; Lunches; Managers; Material differences; Mothers; Polish; Segregation; Socioeconomic classes; Toys; Tutors

Subjects: African Americans--Kentucky; Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Childhood; Immigrants--Kentucky--Van Lear; Mining camps; Race Relations--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Well you were talking about school and I, I had this question in the back of my mind. Um, how far were you able to go in school?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about dropping out of high school to work in the mines. He talks about his relationship with his father-in-law. He talks about his parents taking in his cousins in the 1930s. He talks about how pretty Van Lear was, and the games that the boys played.

Keywords: Coal mining; Father-in-law; Fathers; Football; Great Depression; High school; Jobs; Marriage; Mothers; Uncles; Van Lear (Ky.)

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Depressions--1929--Kentucky; Education--Kentucky; Families.

Partial Transcript: Um, I already told you, but do you feel like your, um, mom or your dad, most likely your dad, would--did he prepare you enough with the facts of life?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about how he learned all about sex from other boys he grew up with. He talks about how there were kids who smoked, but nobody drank. He talks about his job in the mines and describes the difference between hand and machine loading, and talks about working low coal.

Keywords: Drinking; Facts of life; Hand loading; Homosexuality; Low coal; Machine loading; Sex; Smoking

Subjects: Coal miners--Kentucky--Van Lear; Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Van Lear

Partial Transcript: What do you feel about the United Mine Workers?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about the United Mine Workers, and he talks about miners who don't do their share of work. He talks about women being involved in the union and how they picketed the mines. He explains how the miners would be paid with store credit. He talks about how the cost of sharpening augers was taken out of the miners' paychecks.

Keywords: Augers; Blacksmiths; Charges; Check weighmen; Company stores; Credit; Overdrafts; United Mine Workers; Women

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions--Kentucky; Mining camps; United Mine Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Um, do you remember any, uh, preachers in town, going to church, any church life?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about the preachers he knew who were also coal miners. He talks about going squirrel hunting as his father. He talks about how people would typically be in debt to some company outside of the coal company, like when his family got a radio.

Keywords: Churches; Coal camps; Collectors; Debts; Hunting; Payments; Preachers; Radio

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

Partial Transcript: Do you know, or have you ever heard of anybody going hungry here in Van Lear?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about giving a chicken to a neighbor who did not have much food for Thanksgiving. He talks about his opinions on women working in the coal mines. He talks about the dangers of working in the mines and the safety meetings that took place before every shift.

Keywords: Hunger; Poverty; Praying; Safety meetings; Slate falls; Thanksgiving; Women

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal miners--Kentucky--Van Lear; Coal mines and mining--Safety measures; Mine safety; Mining camps; Women coal miners

Partial Transcript: How i--how does a fire boss rank?

Segment Synopsis: Ward talks about the different ranks in the coal mines ranging from laborers to the general manager. He talks about looking up to the superintendent's children. He talks about marriages between the social classes. He talks a little about funerals. He tells a story about a hobo that he knew.

Keywords: Fire bosses; Foremen; Funerals; General managers; Hobos; Homelessness; Laborers; Managers; Marriages; Romance; Schools; Socioeconomic classes; Superintendents

Subjects: Appalachians (People)--Kentucky--Social conditions; Coal miners--Kentucky--Van Lear; Mining camps