Phil Primack, Photographer, Photographs of the Finley Mine Disaster and Other Material A&M 4497

Phil Primack, Photographer, Photographs of the Finley Mine Disaster and Other Material A&M 4497


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West Virginia and Regional History Center

1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown, WV 26506-6069
Business Number: 304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com
URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

Repository
West Virginia and Regional History Center
Identification
A&M 4497
Title
Phil Primack, Photographer, Photographs of the Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster and Other Material 1970-1973
URL:
https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/ark:/99999/199501
Quantity
1.33 Gigabytes, 492 files, formats include .tif and .docx
Creator
Primack, Phil
Location
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Language
English .

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Researchers may access born digital materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Phil Primack, Photographer, Photographs of the Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster and Other Material, A&M 4497, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster:

The Hurricane Creek mine disaster occurred on December 30, 1970, shortly after 12:00 p.m. and resulted in the deaths of 39 men. It occurred a year to the day after the passage of the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969 as was frequently mentioned during coverage of the disaster. Recovery was complicated by the fact that a foot of snow fell on the mountain roads at the time of the accident. It was the deadliest United States mine disaster since the Farmington Mine disaster (1968) and is the subject of several songs.

That day, the 38 dayshift workers entered the 3 ft. tall mine shaft at 7:00 a.m. and crawled down to approximately 2,400 ft. The explosion occurred around five hours later (at about 12:10 p.m.). The bodies of victims were removed within a day, and the mine was sealed until investigation could begin. There were two survivors of the explosion: A.T. Collins, who was blown out of the mine by the explosion while reentering the mine shaft after a lunch break, and Harrison Henson, who had been sent outside to get tools. Henson had turned around to return to the shaft when the mine exploded. Collins was one of three miners who testified that he had seen primer cord (an illegal fuse) at the mine site before the explosion.

(Adapted from Hurricane Creek mine disaster. (2021, January 02). Retrieved February 01, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Creek_mine_disaster)

Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster:

The Buffalo Creek flood was a disaster that occurred on February 26, 1972, when the Pittston Coal Company's coal slurry impoundment dam #3 (located on a hillside in Logan County, West Virginia) burst four days after having been declared "satisfactory" by a federal mine inspector. Dam #3, constructed of coal slurry sediment that had collected behind dams #1 and #2 dumped into the Middle Fork of Buffalo Creek starting in 1968, failed first following heavy rains. The water from dam #3 then overwhelmed dams #2 and #1. Dam #3 was approximately 260 feet above the town of Saunders when it failed.

The resulting flood unleashed around 132 million gallons of black wastewater (cresting over 30 ft. high) upon the residents of sixteen coal towns along Buffalo Creek Hollow. As a result, 125 people were killed, 1,121 were injured, and over 4,000 were left homeless of a population of 5,000. 551 homes and 30 businesses were destroyed. The disaster destroyed or damaged homes in several towns, including Saunders, Pardee, Lorado, Craneco, Lundale, Stowe, Crites, Latrobe, Robinette, Amherstdale, and others.

(Adapted from Buffalo Creek flood. (2020, December 18). Retrieved February 01, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Creek_flood)

Scope and Contents

Digital copies of negatives (35 mm) and some prints of photographs shot by photographer Phil Primack, who at one time worked for the Mountain Eagle newspaper in Whitesburg, KY. Subjects include the Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster (1970), the Buffalo Creek flood disaster (1972), the Miners for Democracy convention in Wheeling, West Virginia (1972, undated), a UMWA rally on Labor Day (1972), a "Miners for Miller" event in Evarts, KY, and the UMWA 46th Constitutional Convention (1973), the first under the reform leadership of Arnold Miller.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Significant Persons Associated With the Collection

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Significant Places Associated With the Collection

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Container List

Graphic Materials Folder: 1
Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster
1970
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos of the rescue efforts and investigation into the Hurricane Creek mine disaster. See the Historical Note for more information on this event.

Graphic Materials Folder: 2
Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster, Congressional Hearing in Hyden, KY, mine visit
ca. 1970-1971
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos of the congressional hearing in Hyden, KY and investigation into the Hurricane Creek mine disaster. See the Historical Note for more information on this event.

Graphic Materials Folder: 3
Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster, miscellaneous
ca. 1970-1971
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos of the investigation into the Hurricane Creek mine disaster. See the Historical Note for more information on this event.

Graphic Materials Folder: 4
Buffalo Creek flood disaster, aftermath
ca. 1972/02/26
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos of the aftermath of the Buffalo Creek flood disaster. See the Historical Note for more information about this event.

Graphic Materials Folder: 5
Miners for Democracy convention, Wheeling, WV [1 of 2]
1972 May 27–1972 May 29
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos taken during the Miners for Democracy (MFD) convention in Wheeling, WV. MFD was a reform caucus in the United Mine Workers of America that formed after the killings of Joseph "Jock" Yablonski (a UMWA presidential candidate at the time of his death), his wife, and his daughter on 1969/12/31. The convention was held to select a candidate for president of the UMWA after the results of the previous election were thrown out by a Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Arthur Miller and Mike Trbovich were chosen as the presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively.

Graphic Materials Folder: 6
Miners for Democracy convention, Wheeling, WV [2 of 2]
1972 May 27–1972 May 29
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos taken during the Miners for Democracy (MFD) convention in Wheeling, WV. MFD was a reform caucus in the United Mine Workers of America that formed after the killings of Joseph "Jock" Yablonski (a UMWA presidential candidate at the time of his death), his wife, and his daughter on 1969/12/31. The convention was held to select a candidate for president of the UMWA after the results of the previous election were thrown out by a Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Arthur Miller and Mike Trbovich were chosen as the presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively.

Graphic Materials Folder: 7
United Mine Workers of America Labor Day rally, Elkhorn City, VA [1 of 2]
1972
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos taken at a Labor Day rally hosted by the United Mine Workers of America for current and former members and their families.

Graphic Materials Folder: 8
United Mine Workers of America Labor Day rally, Elkhorn City, VA [2 of 2]
1972
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos taken at a Labor Day rally hosted by the United Mine Workers of America for current and former members and their families.

Graphic Materials Folder: 9
United Mine Workers of America 46th Constitutional Convention, Pittsburgh, PA
1973 December 3–1973 December 14
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos taken at the 46th Constitutional Convention of the United Mine Workers of America. This convention was the first after the results of the 1969 UMWA international union election results were thrown out by a Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (William B. Bryant). Judge Bryant ordered that a new election should be held 1972/12/01-1972/12/08, which partially fell during this convention.

Graphic Materials Folder: 10
"Miners for Miller" event, Evarts, KY community center
1972
Scope and Contents

This folder includes photos taken at a "Miners for Miller" campaign event at the Evarts, KY community center.

Graphic Materials Folder: 11
Assorted events
ca. 1970s, undated
Scope and Contents

This folder includes assorted photographs, including those of a talk given by Dr. I.E. Buff, a prominent cardiologist who was the person to coin the term "black lung disease."