The birth of America's first deep mine
The dark and dangerous life underground
The breaker boys and child labor
The immigrant melting pot and labor unions
At what age did young boys typically start working in the coal breakers of Carbondale?
What nickname was given to the hunched backs that breaker boys developed from crouching over coal chutes?
vadaleela Carbondale Breaker Boys
Bare hands on the slate and coal in our eyes, We cleared out the stone so the nation could rise.
vadaleela The life cycle of a Carbondale miner often began and ended in the coal breaker.
Which famous investigative photographer exposed the harsh conditions of Pennsylvania's breaker boys in the early 20th century?
Glove ban: Breaker boys were strictly forbidden from wearing gloves because bosses believed bare hands were faster and more accurate at feeling and removing sharp slate.
vadaleela Breaker boys suffered painful cuts and physical deformities from their daily labor.
What does the saying 'Twice a boy and once a man' refer to in a miner's life cycle?
What did breaker boys wear over their faces to try and filter out the thick coal dust?
A child laborer employed at a coal-processing facility to separate impurities from coal by hand. Carbondale boys as young as eight sorted slate from coal for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company.
vadaleela Play this educational game about Carbondale, Pennsylvania coal miners and the harsh breaker bosses who ruled the mines with whips.
What did breaker bosses use to keep the young boys focused and awake in the deafening, dusty breakers?