www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspective. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, Ky. 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

Travel through a Kentucky coal company town as three characters unearth their way of life above and below ground. Set in the early 1930s, the play explores the many concerns of families living within towns that were built and operated by coal companies in eastern Kentucky.

Developed from oral histories and other archival sources, one actor portrays three characters, each with his own unique perspective of life in a coal town.

Willie Blanton is the 14-year-old son of an Appalachian farmer turned coal miner. He offers a glimpse of the change effected by coal mining on families of Appalachia.

Vincent Scopa, an Italian immigrant and injured miner, now works in the company store. Scopa

supports the company and opposes unionization. He and his family of five operate a “boarding house” for newly arrived immigrants.

Billie Donaldson is a native Kentuckian and a staunch union supporter fighting for better working conditions for miners. He is a member of the U.M.W. and the N.M.U.

Read more about Kentucky coal mines:• Eller, Ronald D. Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers. Knoxville, 1982. • Hevener, John W. Which Side Are You On?. Urbana, Ill., 1978.

• Taylor, Paul F. Bloody Harlan. Lanham, Md., 1990.

Visit an authentic coal town, mine, and museum:• The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham, Kentucky 606-848-1530 or www.kingdomcome.org.• The McCreary County Museum in Stearns, Kentucky 800-462-5664 or www.bsfsry.com

Willie, Vincent, and Billie – Adam LuckeySince graduating from Georgetown College in 1999, Adam has worked extensively with most of the theatres in Central Kentucky. He teaches with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Kentucky, is an associate artist with Actors Guild of Lexington, and is the Museum Theatre specialist for the Kentucky Historical Society.

Alternate Actor / Playwright – Greg HardisonKHS Museum Theatre coordinator, Greg Hardison, takes great pride in bringing Kentucky history to life. He currently serves on the board of the International Museum Theatre Alliance.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than forty original productions, often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collection. Each play is presented within KHS exhibition spaces and is designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds, and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibitions to learn more. Audience members often find that they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Special thanks: Bobbie Goddard – Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, Doug Cantrell – Elizabethtown Community College, Larry LaFollette – Southeast Community College, Lynne Hollingsworth – KHS special collections curator, Mike Thomas – script development and original director, Mark Funk – dialect coach. (Song) “Which Side Are You On?” by Florence Reece. Photo credits: (cover) Miner at Bowling Creek, Breathitt County, ca. 1920 – Willard Rouse Jillson Photo Collection / Ken-tucky Geological Survey Photographs., (inside left) Child Law, 1914 – Donated by Wade Hall., Italians celebrating the Fourth of July in Lynch, 1927 – courtesy SKCTC., (inside right) Cutting Underground Crop, Hopkins County, ca. 1892 – Milton H. Smith Photo Albums, 1892-1894., Whitley County coal miners, ca. 1920 – Willard Rouse Jillson Photo Collection / Kentucky Geological Survey Photographs., Bituminous Coal, Perry County, ca.1928 – Philadelphia Commercial Museum Collection.

Glossary of Terms:Birds of passage: slang term given to transient immigrants.Carbide lamp: simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene.Face: term used by miners to describe the surface or wall of a seam of coal.Gun Thugs: men hired to enforce the demands and laws created by the company.N.M.U.: National Miners Union supported anticapitalist and procommunist beliefs. Padrone: contractor of Italian laborers, usually a fellow immigrant.Scab: one who refuses to join a labor union or honor a striking union’s picket line.Padrone: contractor of Italian laborers, usually a fellow immigrant.Scrip: money loaned to miners to purchase goods in company-owned businesses.Seam: a bed of coal lying between a roof and floor.Shack rousters: those hired by the coal company who force miners to return to work.Tallie/Dago: negative slang terms describing Italian miners.Tipple: central facility used in loading coal for transportation by rail or truck.U.M.W.: United Mine Workers began in 1890 and is still in operation today.

Travel through a Kentucky coal company town as three characters unearth their way of life above and below ground. Set in the early 1930s, the play explores the many concerns of families living within towns that were built and operated by coal companies in eastern Kentucky.

Developed from oral histories and other archival sources, one actor portrays three characters, each with his own unique perspective of life in a coal town.

Willie Blanton is the 14-year-old son of an Appalachian farmer turned coal miner. He offers a glimpse of the change effected by coal mining on families of Appalachia.

Vincent Scopa, an Italian immigrant and injured miner, now works in the company store. Scopa

supports the company and opposes unionization. He and his family of five operate a “boarding house” for newly arrived immigrants.

Billie Donaldson is a native Kentuckian and a staunch union supporter fighting for better working conditions for miners. He is a member of the U.M.W. and the N.M.U.

Read more about Kentucky coal mines:• Eller, Ronald D. Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers. Knoxville, 1982. • Hevener, John W. Which Side Are You On?. Urbana, Ill., 1978.

• Taylor, Paul F. Bloody Harlan. Lanham, Md., 1990.

Visit an authentic coal town, mine, and museum:• The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham, Kentucky 606-848-1530 or www.kingdomcome.org.• The McCreary County Museum in Stearns, Kentucky 800-462-5664 or www.bsfsry.com

Willie, Vincent, and Billie – Adam LuckeySince graduating from Georgetown College in 1999, Adam has worked extensively with most of the theatres in Central Kentucky. He teaches with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Kentucky, is an associate artist with Actors Guild of Lexington, and is the Museum Theatre specialist for the Kentucky Historical Society.

Alternate Actor / Playwright – Greg HardisonKHS Museum Theatre coordinator, Greg Hardison, takes great pride in bringing Kentucky history to life. He currently serves on the board of the International Museum Theatre Alliance.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than forty original productions, often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collection. Each play is presented within KHS exhibition spaces and is designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds, and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibitions to learn more. Audience members often find that they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Special thanks: Bobbie Goddard – Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, Doug Cantrell – Elizabethtown Community College, Larry LaFollette – Southeast Community College, Lynne Hollingsworth – KHS special collections curator, Mike Thomas – script development and original director, Mark Funk – dialect coach. (Song) “Which Side Are You On?” by Florence Reece. Photo credits: (cover) Miner at Bowling Creek, Breathitt County, ca. 1920 – Willard Rouse Jillson Photo Collection / Ken-tucky Geological Survey Photographs., (inside left) Child Law, 1914 – Donated by Wade Hall., Italians celebrating the Fourth of July in Lynch, 1927 – courtesy SKCTC., (inside right) Cutting Underground Crop, Hopkins County, ca. 1892 – Milton H. Smith Photo Albums, 1892-1894., Whitley County coal miners, ca. 1920 – Willard Rouse Jillson Photo Collection / Kentucky Geological Survey Photographs., Bituminous Coal, Perry County, ca.1928 – Philadelphia Commercial Museum Collection.

Glossary of Terms:Birds of passage: slang term given to transient immigrants.Carbide lamp: simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene.Face: term used by miners to describe the surface or wall of a seam of coal.Gun Thugs: men hired to enforce the demands and laws created by the company.N.M.U.: National Miners Union supported anticapitalist and procommunist beliefs. Padrone: contractor of Italian laborers, usually a fellow immigrant.Scab: one who refuses to join a labor union or honor a striking union’s picket line.Padrone: contractor of Italian laborers, usually a fellow immigrant.Scrip: money loaned to miners to purchase goods in company-owned businesses.Seam: a bed of coal lying between a roof and floor.Shack rousters: those hired by the coal company who force miners to return to work.Tallie/Dago: negative slang terms describing Italian miners.Tipple: central facility used in loading coal for transportation by rail or truck.U.M.W.: United Mine Workers began in 1890 and is still in operation today.

www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspective. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, Ky. 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.