Forty years ago today, Richard Nixon signed into law new federal safety guidelines enacted in an effort to make coal mining a bit less lethal. The Federal Coal Mine Health And Safety Act was passed in the aftermath of a 1968 coal mine explosion in Farmington, West Virginia that took 78 lives.
For the first time, the government set standards for maintaining equipment and supplying fresh air to miners. In addition, underground mines were required to be inspected four times per year and all safety violations triggered mandatory fines.
So far, so good. Unfortunately, on December 30, 1970, exactly one year after the new legislation passed, tragedy struck again in the form of an explosion at the Hurricane Creek mine, 5 miles outside Hyden, Kentucky.
Tom T. Hall wrote a very beautiful song about this, "Trip to Hyden."
Posted by: Jonah | December 30, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Greg G --
Thanks so much for posting these old songs! I am a collector of coal mining songs. I know about the Hyden Disaster (also called the "Hurricane Creek Disaster"), as I live in Kentucky and work in eastern Kentucky, but I'd never before heard the song that you posted by J.D. Jarvis. I also had never heard his cover version of "Don't Go To the Mines Today", which is a traditional song actually called "Dream of the Miner's Child", which has been performed by numerous artists (Doc Watson, Phyllis Boyens & Hazel Dickens, Johnson Mountain Boys, the Stanley Brothers, Ricky Skaggs & Keith Whitley ,Tim O'Brien, et al).
In any event, I'm wondering if there is some way I can get mp3 files of these songs from you to add to my collection? You can e-mail me at tonyoppegard@yahoo.com.
Thanks and best wishes, Tony
Posted by: Tony Oppegard | December 31, 2009 at 07:22 AM
This is great! I am an independent singer songwriter and I learn a lot from reading blogs like this - thanks so much for sharing.
Posted by: Jade Leonard | December 31, 2009 at 09:50 PM