Interview with Kermit Ratliff, July 23, 1987

Interview Summary

Kermit Ratliff worked as a coal miner for thirty years. He was born in 1912 on Little Big Branch on Marrowbone Creek. His father, J.H. Ratliff, Jr., was the postmaster at Lookout, Kentucky for several years. His mother was Lizzie Maynard Ratliff. The family moved from Little Big Branch in the early 1930s when Semet-Solvay Corporation bought up the land to begin mining. Ratliff worked off and on at the Henry Clay mine from 1936 until it shut down in the early 1950s. He describes in detail an accident at Henry Clay where a miner was killed in a motor accident. He also describes his own injury when his arm got caught in machinery and was severely broken. He worked in a coal seam no higher than thirty inches high and had to crawl around on his knees to work. Ratliff's own family had a small coal bank that provided them with house coal. He estimates that they typically used one hundred bushels of coal during the winter. Ratliff went to grade school in Lookout, Kentucky, but quit Hellier High School because it was six miles away and he had to walk to get there.

Interview Keyword

Coal banks Elkhorn Coal Field Henry Clay mine Henry Clay strike Lawrence E. Ratliff Little Big Branch Mine safety Mountain farming Black lung Wolfpit mine Childhood Perry Adkins African American coal miners

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Coal miners Coal miners--Kentucky--Elkhorn City Coal miners--Kentucky--Pike County Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Elkhorn City Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Pike County Pike County (Ky.) Pike County (Ky.)--Social life and customs Ratliff, Kermit, 1912- Ratliff, Kermit, 1912- --Interviews Communities Coal mines and mining Employment--Kentucky Appalachian Region--Social life and customs Coal mines and mining--Safety measures Coal Coal mine accidents United Mine Workers of America Families Immigrants Coal miners--Labor unions Coal mines Coal mines and mining--Kentucky Collective bargaining--Coal mining industry

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.