Mining Childhood: Growing Up in Butte, Montana, 1900–1960

by Janet Finn

Overview

Mining Childhood offers a child’s-eye view of Butte, Montana, from 1900 to 1960. These years mark the rise and decline of Butte’s fame as the “Richest Hill on Earth,” when the veins of copper coursing deep beneath the city’s surface created thousands of jobs for miners and untold wealth for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Children were keen observers and active participants in the community, and childhood accounts of work, play, family, schooling, ethnicity, and neighborhood life yield fresh perspectives on Butte. Their stories remind us that children were not sheltered from the “adult” world around them; they were shapers of that world. Childhood reminiscences reveal lessons in resolve, optimism, and possibility while reminding us that growing up is serious business.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940016655734
Publisher:	Montana Historical Society Press
Publication date:	06/24/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	18 MB
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About the Author

Janet L. Finn is professor of social work at the University of Montana–Missoula and faculty member in the International Development Studies and Women and Gender Studies programs. She has authored and edited numerous books and articles about both Butte and childhood, including Tracing the Veins: Of Copper, Culture, and Community from Butte to Chuquicamata (University of California Press, 1998); Motherlode: Legacies of Women’s Lives and Labors in Butte, Montana (Clark City Press, 2005); and Childhood, Youth, and Social Work in Transformation (Columbia University Press, 2009).