harley d. walden miners and mentors: memory and experiences of coal camp schools in appalachia
TRANSCRIPT
Harley D. Walden
MINERS AND MENTORS: MEMORY AND EXPERIENCES OF COAL
CAMP SCHOOLS IN APPALACHIA
• One is based on a professional influence on my life.
• One is based on a personal influence on my life.
TALE OF TWO PEOPLE & TWO SCHOOLS
PROFESSIONAL INFLUENCE
Dr. Stan Maynard Holden Central School
PERSONAL INFLUENCE
Wilda Walden Two-Room Schoolhouse
MINERS & COAL CAMP COMMUNITIES• Richard Straw (2006)
“region rich in resources, yet a land of great poverty” (p.21).
• 19th century, produced 2/3 of America’s entire coal yield.
• Small settlements in remote areas that existed to provide quarters for coal miners & their families.
• Included staples, such as: hospitals, company general stores, churches, & schools.
• Closeness of Local Community
• Progressive Nature of the School’s Curricula
• Structure of the School Day
• Student-Teacher Relationships
• Success & Enduring Legacy of Coal Camp Schools
KEY THEMES
• My grandmother taught at McCommas Creek in Dunlow, West Virginia. It consisted of approximately 200 citizens.
• Dr. Maynard attended Holden Junior High School in Holden, West Virginia.
CLOSENESS OF LOCAL COMMUNITY
• McCommas’ curriculum consisted of “Kindergarteners drawing, coloring, learning virtues, and recogniinge their alphabet,” whereas more advanced students studied “spelling vocabulary words, addition and subtraction, reading, penmanship, a little geography, and science.”
• Holden’s curriculum consisted of “reading, writing, geography, and arithmetic,” but it also “really did incorporate the history of the world, without the beauty of Google and the Internet, as books were the vehicles to foreign and exotic places”.
PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF THE SCHOOL’S CURRICULA
• McCommas had “a huge brass bell hanging from the top of the schoolhouse that rang twice a day, once to signal the beginning of instruction in the morning and another to call students back in after lunch.”
• Holden had a designated teacher who would “ring their hand bell three times a day during recess, lunch, and then again in the afternoon to signal our release from school in order for everyone to hear it throughout the halls.”
STRUCTURE OF THE SCHOOL DAY
• My grandmother said that she “enjoyed every minute of teaching students, as I did lecture them, butt also allowed them to speak their minds and encouraged them to use their skills and imagination.”
• Dr. Maynard said that his fifth grade teacher, Ms. Beard, was able to transcend the limited resources of Holden. Specifically, she “would use the intonation of her voice and captivated you by knowing exactly where to stop reading for the day, which left everyone wanting more”.”
STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS
• My grandmother said that most of the jobs available to graduates were those involving “living off the land,” yet she “never failed one student because they all wanted to learn because they felt safe to discuss anything with me in an open-door policy.”
• Dr. Maynard said that most of his classmates went onto college and they “did a fine job because their education in terms of quality was comparable to most good schools of that time.”
FINAL REFLECTIONS ON THE SUCCESS & ENDURING LEGACY OF COAL CAMP
SCHOOLS
REFERENCES• Freese, B. (2004). Coal: A human history. New York: Penguin Books
• Shifflett, C. A. (1995). Coal towns: Life work culture company towns. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.
• Straw, R. (2006). Appalachian History. In G. T. Edwards, J. A. Asbury, & R. L. Cox (Eds.), A handbook to Appalachia: An introduction to the region. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press.