Miners work at a Belmont County coal mine around 1920.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Coal mining has been at the foundation of the local economy for decades, drawing those seeking employment and serving as the engine for larger industry.

At 6 p.m. today, area historian David Adair will be unearthing the details of the lives and work of the miners who built the area.

Cathryn Stanley, curator of the Belmont County Heritage Museum, is pleased to welcome Adair and his presentation. She added that Adair, a resident of Guernsey County, has presented in Belmont County before.

“He knows about railroads. He knows about coal mining. He’s going to be dressed as a coal miner, and there are objects on display at the museum already, and he’s going to pick those up and talk about them and tell people what it was like to be an early coal miner,” she said. “We have a lot of interest in this already.”

Stanley added that Adair will also provide pictures from Belmont County coal mines.

The presentation complements the museum’s current display, tracing an Italian-American family coming from Italy to Belmont County to seek a better life by working in the coal mines. The display will be up through Sept. 30.

Adair said his presentation is common to the experiences of Jefferson, Belmont, Harrison and Guernsey county coal miners.

“I’ll be portraying a coal miner between 1890 and 1910,” he said. “I’ll be a foreigner, come to America for a better life and to get away from bad times. What I’ll do is tell the people things that aren’t found in history books. I’ll talk a little about how they were paid, the conditions underground in the coal mine, how they were treated. A coal miner was considered the bottom rung in the ladder to success. Even though he may have been white, he was a minority, because frankly those that live in a community, when a new nationality moves in or a new person, they’re looked down upon.”

He said his presentation covers a particularly dangerous time period in which to mine coal.

“Generally it’ll be a sad story,” he said. “I’ll demonstrate what it was like to actually mine the coal, by going through the motions. I’ll show how they had to lay on their side, and the conditions underground.”

Adair, 76, has been doing such presentations for about 50 years.

“Since I was a child, I’ve talked to coal miners. My grandmother on my mother’s side was married three times. Her first two husbands were crushed to death in the mines, crushed beyond recognition,” he said. “The third husband, which was my grandfather, when he was 58 years of age I saw him die with black lung disease. He couldn’t even lay down, he had to sit up in a chair to sleep.”

In his research, he came across more than a few “horror stories,” and though some might have been exaggerated, he spoke about the circumstances miners worked in.

“if you’re hurt in a coal mine, you can’t dial 911 for a nurse or a doctor. There wasn’t any doctor or nurse. You were on your own. Things like that nobody ever wrote about.

“Three things are certain: there is no such thing as a clean coal miner. There is no such thing as an obese coal miner, and there is certainly no such thing as an atheist coal miner,” he said. “For decades, if not a half of a century or more, it was the most dangerous occupation in the world.

“You have to imagine yourself being 100 feet underground and a quarter of a mile back under the hillside with very dim light,” he said. “Above your head are millions of tons of rock that can fall and crush you anytime.”

He added that many residents of the local area have a coal mining heritage and some personal connection to the stories he shares.

Adair said after his one-hour presentations, audience members usually add stories of their own. He speaks about general experiences of coal miners in the area but not stories of specific mines or miners.

“There were hundreds of coal mines in all those counties, and to pull out one and not talk about another,” he said. “I could, but I won’t.”

He recalls the reactions of some listeners who have never been in a coal mine.

“‘I didn’t know what grandpa did,'” he repeated their comments.

“It really was bad times. No matter what color you were, you were a slave to the coal owner and operator. They could replace you tomorrow if you were hurt today. There was no insurance. There was no vacations, no paid holidays, no welfare, no relief. You were on your own if you were hurt,” he said, adding that members of the various ethnic communities often looked after each other.

“If anybody has any old photographs they would like to bring in, to share with others, they’re welcome to do so, or any artifacts they want to bring in,” he said. “If people have things they don’t know what to do with, related to coal mining, have them donate it to a museum someplace.”

The Belmont County Heritage Museum is located at 101 E. Main St. in St. Clairsville. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and can be reached at 740-298-7020.