Child of a miner getting water from spring
9/4/1946
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Original Caption: "Child of a miner getting water from spring. The chief complaint in the camp concerning this water supply was that it was too far to carry water and that everyone dipped their buckets, dirty or not, into it. Big Jim Coal Company, Big Jim Mine, Blanche, Bell County, Kentucky."
In 1946, noted photographer Russell Lee was hired by the Solid Fuels Administration for War, a Federal agency, to take photographs for a survey of medical, health and housing conditions in coal communities around the country.
Located in remote areas and patrolled by mine company guards during times of labor unrest, coal communities were normally inaccessible to outsiders. But government seizure of the mines from private operators gave Lee an unprecedented view into coal fields from Pennsylvania to Wyoming.
Russell Lee took more than 2,000 photographs of the miners in their homes, workplaces, and communities.
In 1946, noted photographer Russell Lee was hired by the Solid Fuels Administration for War, a Federal agency, to take photographs for a survey of medical, health and housing conditions in coal communities around the country.
Located in remote areas and patrolled by mine company guards during times of labor unrest, coal communities were normally inaccessible to outsiders. But government seizure of the mines from private operators gave Lee an unprecedented view into coal fields from Pennsylvania to Wyoming.
Russell Lee took more than 2,000 photographs of the miners in their homes, workplaces, and communities.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War.
National Archives Identifier: 541162
Full Citation: 245-MS-2178L; Child of a miner getting water from spring; 9/4/1946; Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 1946–1947; Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War, Record Group 245; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/child-miner-water-from-spring, May 3, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.