Published: February 26, 2008 04:38 pm            

James Madison student explores life in coal camps in Fayette visit

PAGE — Heather Crabtree was reared “in the one small corner of Virginia that could be annexed by Kentucky or West Virginia or Tennessee.”

Its name even fits: Drill.

Crabtree, a master’s student at James Madison University, grew up in Drill, living with her grandparents. “Pawpaw was a miner all his life,” she said on a recent visit to Page. “This is a lot like home.”

The purpose of her Fayette County visit was to meet with local women who lived in coal camps. As one of the requirements for her master’s degree, Crabtree must write a thesis.

When it came time to focus on a specific thesis statement, “I decided to do what was close to me, what I knew,” she said.

Crabtree’s thesis advisors did not want her to stay home and do the interviews, however. “They wanted me to visit other areas with similar lifestyles,” she said.

To that end, one of her advisors who attended graduate school with Dr. Paul Rakes, a professor of history at WVU Tech, hooked her up with Rakes. Guiding Crabtree into the world which he knows intimately, having been a miner himself before going back to school, Rakes has connected her with a number of women around the area who lived in one of the early coal camps.

He also is pleased with the angle she’s taking with her thesis, focusing on the lives of women in the camps.

“The contribution that this makes to historical records is just wonderful,” he said. “When it’s completed and placed in archives, there’s gonna be scholars from all over the country visiting.

“Lots of study has been done on the miners and their lives, but this is important work that no one’s done before.”

Crabtree, who also has conducted interviews with other women in the area, hopes to complete her thesis by the end of June.

— E-mail:

ckeenan@register-herald.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.