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.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], West Virginia University, Extension Service, Mining Extension, Records, A&M 2412, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transfer from West Virginia University, Extension Service, Mining Extension via Savage, Tom, 1975 September 18 and 1980 March 7.

Biographical / Historical

The West Virginia University Extension Service Mining Extension program, sometimes referred to as the WVU School of Mines, was established in 1913 in response to the industry's growth and an increased demand for skilled miners and mine engineers in the region. Throughout its over 100 years in operation, the Mining Extension program has trained students in mine management, health and safety, mining innovations, and emergency preparedness. It has also worked with other WVU departments, like the College of Engineering and other Extension Service programs.

Sources and more information can be found at https://mindext.statler.wvu.edu/mining-extension & https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2024/10/10/wvu-mining-extension-program-boasts-century-long-legacy-of-excellence.

Scope and Contents

Includes records created and used by the West Virginia University Extension Service's Mining Extension program. This collection reflects a broad range of the program's activities, like material from classes offered on topics such as mine gas metering, fire and emergency prevention, mine engineering, industrial machinery, welding, and mine protection. It also features administrative records, like instructor travel expense logs, budget information and supply requests, departmental correspondence, correspondence with mining industry governing agencies, documentation of certificates conferred by the program, and more. Additionally, it includes material related to the practical mining work that the Mining Extension oversaw and had students participate in at locations like Rush Run and with entities like the Scotia Coal and Coke Company. These records include things like coal return receipts, weekly coal reports, and documentation of injuries, deaths, and related compensation. Lastly, there is a small quantity of material relating to the Fire Service Extension's programming, which looks to have shared some overlapping faculty with the Mining Extension at the time these records were created. These items mainly include correspondence, both within and outside of the department, and material from classes taught by the program. The majority of the collection, Mining Extension records, comprises Series 1. The smaller portion of the collection, the Fire Service Extension records, comprises Series 2.

Arrangement

The original arrangement of this collection is unknown and has not been retained. An archives class worked on this collection in 1986 and imposed a new arrangement, but that order has also been rearranged since then. The current arrangement is loosely based off of the archives class's choices, but it is not the same as any prior structure the collection may have had.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Coal mines and mining -- West Virginia
• Mining schools and education
• West Virginia University. Mining Extension Service