Coal Miner's Award Box

This box of various awards, belt-buckles, knives, pens, pins, and coins was gathered over the thirty years Lyle Frederich Parks worked for Peabody Mine. The Peabody branded box itself was gifted to Parks upon his retirement. Peabody is still an active energy and coal mining company with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.[1]  A notable belt buckle from Parks’ collection has the phrase “United Mine Workers of America: Safety First” indicating that Parks was a member of the UMW, an early mining union formed in 1890 in Columbus, Ohio. UMW quickly became one of the largest mining unions of the early twentieth century, organizing strikes and creating a group identity and consciousness among miners. Miners’ shared experiences as workers and union members has elicited a sense of pride that persists today in rural communities. UMW buckles and patches help miners show that pride and demonstrate their group identity and solidarity in real time.[2]

[1]Peabody. “All About Peabody.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.peabodyenergy.com/Who-We-Are/All-About-Peabody

[2]Huber, Patrick. “Red Necks and Red Bandanas: Appalachian Coal Miners and the Coloring of Union Identity, 1912-1936.” Western Folklore 65, no. ½ (2006): 195-210. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25474784.