Published: July 22, 2009 09:38 pm      

Miners’ Memorial etched in stone

RICHLANDS, Va. — A fountain plays a soothing sound as visitors look at the black marble memorial and seek out familiar names etched in white. One man finds the name of the grandfather he never knew, and others locate the names of husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins who lost their lives while earning their livings in Virginia’s coal mines.

A special unveiling was hosted Wednesday outside the Richlands Town Hall to dedicate the Official Coal Miners’ Memorial For the Commonwealth of Virginia, a monument for Virginian miners who lost their lives while working in their profession and to those who go into the mines today.

“It’s a grand day for Richlands to say we have the state miners’ memorial,” said Mayor E. Kenneth Wysor.

The celebration’s keynote speaker, Lt. Gov. William T. Bolling, recalled how his father, a coal miner, who got up at dawn to head for work and returned that evening covered in coal dust that made the whites of his eyes stand out. His mother ran a small cafe in Whitesville, W.Va., that became a focal point for concerned families when anything bad happened in the mines.

“My mom’s restaurant became the place to gather when there was an accident in the mine and people were waiting for news,” Bolling recalled. “Fortunately, that didn’t happen often.”

Sometimes the news that reached the cafe was good, and sometimes it was not. The new memorial helps preserve the names of miners who lost their lives while providing for their families.

“This makes sure we never forget them, the importance of coal, and the risks that are inherent with the profession,” Bolling said.

Outside the coal fields, the image people have of the profession are not always complementary; they do not realize the importance of coal.

“People outside the area paint us as being backward, but they should thank us every time they turn a light on,” said Seth White of the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors.

Cemeteries that have the graves of coal miners are often in remote areas, so the Richlands memorial gives them a tangible place for families and friends to pay their respects. Jack Compton, 61, of Honaker, Va., looked at the memorial and found the name of his maternal grandfather, Leonard Hughes.

“I never got to see him,” Compton said. “It (memorial) is something great for the community and for the families. They need recognition. I worked in the strip mines, and I knew what it is.”

Visitors bowed their heads as members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Casey-Shortt Post 9640, fired a salute and solemnly played “taps” in memory of coal miners whose names will not be lost to time.