A Miner's Family Life: Memories of Minden, West Virginia

Dare we compare mining to slavery? In a way, yes. Although miners were not physically owned, they were mentally owned by their work. Livelihoods were owned by the company store—which was detrimental both emotionally and psychologically—making life difficult for not just the miners but their families, too. Many immigrants who came to America were forced to leave their homelands, seeking a means to survive in the new world. The American Dream promised a life of freedom—but was that really tru...