Eastern Regional Coal Archives
Eastern Regional Coal Archives
Craft Memorial Library
600 Commerce Street
Bluefield, WV 24701
(304) 325-3943
For more information, contact Eva McGuire at (304) 325-3943.
http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/coal.htm
Southern West Virginia's
Research Facility Dedicated
To Collecting, Preserving,
And Making Available
The Priceless Heritage
Of The Coalfields.
| The Eastern
Regional Coal Archives Contains:
|
Artifacts
The Eastern Regional Coal Archives in located on the second floor of the Craft Memorial Library in downtown Bluefield, West Virginia. The ERCA is open by appointment only for those inserted in serious research about the coal industry. Typically, researchers will contact ECRA in advance and let them know their area of interest. ECRA will set up an appointment, will locate relevant materials in the archives, and will have the materials ready on the day of the appointment.
Please note that there are very limited resources in the archive. For example, if a researcher wants scans of photographs, the researcher should bring his/her own laptop computer and scanner to the archive. There is a photocopier downstairs in the library which may be used for a per-copy fee.
Dr. Stuart McGehee (Pronounced "McGee") was the founder of the ECRA.
Sadly, Dr. McGehee died in January 2010 after a long battle with cancer.
Read obituary here.
On the day we visited the ERCA [October 2006], we found Alex P. Schust looking
through files of Coalwood photos
for his new book Coalwood, scheduled for publication in 2007.
Stuart and Alex are discussing the Coalwood photos. If you look on the
glass cabinet behind
Alex, you will see the laptop and scanner he brought with him.
Alex and Stuart again. Note the large books on the floor behind Stuart.
These are
the old Olga Coal Company records donated by LTV to the ERCA in 1991.
The Olga records.
The Olga records.
The reading room is packed with coal memorabilia.
Miners' tags.
The rest of the ERCA houses most of the archives.
For a list of the materials housed in the ERCA, please see this page:
http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/coal.htm
Craft Memorial Library