Photographs from the 1930s show a ramshackle mining operation on outskirts of Mount Carmel

These 1938 photographs by Sheldon Dick show a landscape destroyed by mining and the efforts of local residents to survive the Great Depression.

The Coal Region’s economic woes featured in book: “The Year of Peril: America in 1942”

In Tracy Campbell's 2020 book, the author uses the examples from the anthracite coal fields to show how our national myths about World War II often miss the mark.

A 1938 editorial from the Coal Region urged loosening of immigration restrictions for refugees

In November 1938, the Pittston Gazette published an editorial calling for a reconsideration of America's strict immigration policies.

“Only Hoover is Big Enough” – A Lykens newspaper’s editorial on the eve of the 1932 election

The Lykens Standard voiced support for President Herbert Hoover and called the campaign against him illegitimate.

Scenes in a Coal Region bar room – 1938

Photographer Sheldon Dick made a visit to the Coal Region in 1938 to document scenes of life and work in the mining towns of northern Schuylkill County. On an evening during his visit, Dick made a swing by a bar room in Gilberton, Pennsylvania and snapped three photographs that bring the setting to life. The … Continue reading Scenes in a Coal Region bar room – 1938