A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 1

A Coal Miner's Daughter, Sister and Wife.

Nathan Shrader

COM360: Advanced Communications in Society

Dr. Sarah Bowman

February 27, 2017

A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 2

Having grown up in Prestonsburg Kentucky most of her life Linda Squires had become

accustomed to one of her state's resources: coal. She did not do the mining herself but instead it

was her father, brother, and her husband. The reason for choosing Linda to interview is a simple

one, the environment. This does not just pertain to just the natural environment as we know it

like the plants, animals, and water but her home life and the struggles she has faced due to her

social environment. This woman has seen and been a lot of things: a sister, a mother, a wife, a

widow, and most of all a fighter. She comes from a poor family that were initially farmers from

Germany. During this there are some key questions to ask. In doing so this will shed light on

how growing up poor and in a new country affected her parents and her future.

While sitting opposite Linda in her living room there is a sense of comfort and

welcoming. Along the walls are photographs some in color and some in sepia tones. Now

looking at Linda there is a wisdom in her eye to match the gray of her hair. She asks if I want

anything to eat or drink: I accept a coffee. Linda has been a family friend for about five years,

ever since she moved to Georgia from Kentucky. “Georgia isn’t much different than Kentucky,

there are just fewer cows.” She explains when asked why she moved. It was that and to marry

her second husband who works for the power company. Looking at her light up with a smile at

mentioning her husband made sense considering it had been a long road up until now. “I feel

like my life has done a complete 180 degree turn to what it was.” That was when the curiosity

sank in. The next question made more sense, what her first memory was she could remember
A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 3

from childhood. There was a pause along with a distant glare from her. “I remember my father

telling my mother to not worry, that everything will be okay.” This of course was followed by

the reason behind this. They had moved to the United States from Germany while her mother

was pregnant to start a new life. There was money in coal mining, more than they made as

simple farmers in their homeland. This seems to be prevalent theme in those immigrating to the

United States, to live out the “American Dream.” This is due to cultural Imperialism and the

hold it has on foreign markets. In this case it was a film her father had seen in a movie house in

Germany. The cultural imperialist approach to communication recognizes that mass media is not

value free—the media also carry important cultural values (Jandt, 2013 ). Cultural Imperialism

is when values that are believed to be just from another culture are imposed onto another. This

was taken into consideration along with the fall of Hitler. “The country was in shambles, at least

that is what my father said, they were lucky to have gotten out alive.” Unlike some of her

parents friends they weren’t of the jewish faith, or so she thought. Sitting perplexed she points to

the Bible on the table. “Open it up and turn to Galatians 3:28.” Underlined is, ​There is neither

Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one

in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28, King James Version). In the margin is a scribble like this: ‫ ְל ַקווֹת‬.

“It means hope in Hebrew.” After seeing this it dawned that her family had been Jewish but had

converted to Christianity to escape persecution. Coal miners from other countries changed

dramatically at the end of the nineteenth century as more Eastern and Southern European

immigrants flooded into coal mining towns and camps (Burchett, 2016). That is how they ended

up in Kentucky and her father worked in the coal mines. They remained Christians due to the

community and their perseverance for them to learn American values in such a small rural town.
A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 4

However her family always celebrated different festivities from Germany and even included

other immigrants in the celebrations.

However there wasn’t always good times and celebrations. Due to all the work needed to

be done in the mines her father suffered in the long run. Linda was nineteen when she found out

her father was going to die. “It was like all the blood and air had been sucked from my body, I

didn’t leave the house until he died, to his funeral.” Tears stream down her face while she says

this. Her father had black lung, an incurable and fatal disease caused by inhaling coal and

mineral dusts (Engelken, 2016). She had severe depression after that but her mother now had to

take care of her and her younger brother. “Father wanted us to keep his dream alive, we were

too poor to go home so we made due.” Not only did her mother help raise the food for them to

eat Linda got a job at the local supermarket and her brother had the mines. “I tried begging

mother to not let him go into those mines, I even worked a second job as a waitress at night just

so he wouldn’t have to.” that was not enough due to the low wages she made compared to what

the mine offered. The mines offered benefits through a union that helped protect workers and

their families. Linda was weary as she said all the owners cared about was how much coal they

could get out of the workers. “They didn’t care about the workers, call me biased but that union

was a front, they never helped us and I never got reparations from those that I lost. The black

devil is what the miners called it, especially about those that succumbed to black lung. This is a

particular argot used by the miners. Those living in the area became dependant on the coal and

what it gave their families. During these years this is all Linda had known and believed that was

out there, that this was the American dream, having meat on the table and working hard for what
A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 5

her family had. Acculturation had occurred in that they had found a new livelihood and built a

new life away from what had been an oppressive government (Jandt, 2013).

“My brother had a friend from the mine named Robert. Little did I know he would be my

husband.” Robert was born in the United States and had a hard time understanding some of

Linda and her family's heritage. This is due to the German heritage and the higher rate of

uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty avoidance is ​the ​extent to which people in a culture feel

threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. Those who have higher avoidance are more

aggressive, emotional, and security seeking (Jandt, 2013). The United States has a score of 46

while Germany has a 65 (Hofstede, 2016). This didn’t stop them and were soon married. They

had two kids together and lived out life in Kentucky. “I loved my mother so much but I never

thought I would be in her position.” Tests came back positive for black lung. Her husband died

in August of 1996. “I needed my children with me more than ever.” She did not allow her two

sons to work in the coal mines. She said she was there with him in the hospital when he drew his

last breath and how it reminded her of seeing her father on his deathbed. Linda believes in an

afterlife as part of her religion and she believed that they were both together. In an

individualized society this is common (Jandt, 2013). She isolated herself and lost her appetite.

She was unable to work and had no way of supporting her children. They had become so reliant

on her husband and the job he held. However there was a will and this allowed for her sons to

get a large portion of money to send them to school. This pattern is representative of the

absolute nuclear family where there are no inheritance rules but use of wills. While they were in

college they found spouses and moved close by to take care of their mother. “The kids were
A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 6

worried about me and what I was going to do with myself do I decided to get back into work.”

Her first job since she had been married and up until then she had just raised her kids. It was in a

food processing plant and they specialized in lunch meats and other meat products like hot dogs.

“It was different and I had a hard time getting the routine, there were a lot of men and every time

we worked on hot dogs a weiner joke was inevitable.” This was something she wasn't used to

given that the men in her life had given her more respect. This taunting is called othering in her

specific contact zone that often occurs when different cultures and groups are outside of one's

own. Being a woman was Lindas case and soon she stood her ground and gave it right back at

them turning the tables. She worked there for fifteen years until she found her current husband

online using a dating website. “My kids were very surprised when I told them I was engaged, I

mean they understood and were okay with it, I just wanted their blessing.” There was a period of

time when they dated and met one another halfway for dates in Chattanooga Tennessee. “He

works for Georgia Power and I couldn’t be happier.” Linda smiles and says there are some things

that God put her through to get her to where she is now.

“Last I heard about the coal mines they were closing them down and I am so grateful for

that, it’s a sign.” This is due to the clean air acts being put in place across the country to prevent

global warming. That and there are other alternatives for fuel other than coal. Another issue is

that of the biodiversity and coals effects on the surrounding areas. A study by Williams and

others (1996) on 270 mine discharges in the Stonycreek River Basin found that many of the

discharges had a pH less than 3.0. This can seriously affect aquatic habitats. Stream bottoms

covered with orange or yellow brown iron oxide or white aluminum oxide precipitates can be
A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 7

toxic to benthic algae, invertebrates, and fish (Sams, 2000). No matter what the reports say it

cannot bring back who she has lost but she is hopeful this pollution will come to an end.

Linda is happy now with her life and has come a long way from her family immigrating

from Germany, losing multiple family members to the black devil, and showing a strong

resiliency in the face of adversity. Losing her loved ones gained her the strength she needed to

power through taking care of her mom, brother, husband, and sons. Going through this has

affected her present, past, and future.

A Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sister and Wife 8

References

Burchett, M. (2016). Coal industry. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from

http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/438-coal-industry.html

Engelken, R. D. (2016). Black lung. ​Salem Press Encyclopedia,​

Hofstede, G. (2016). Geert Hofstede. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from

https://geert-hofstede.com/germany.html

Hofstede, G. (2016). Geert Hofstede. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from

https://geert-hofstede.com/UnitedStates.html

Jandt, F.E. (2013). ​An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global

community ​(7​th​ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Sams, J. L., III, & Beer, K. M. (2000). ​Effects of Coal-Mine Drainage on Stream Water Quality

in the Allegheny and Monongahela River Basins— Sulfate Transport and Trends.

Retrieved February 7, 2017, from https://pa.water.usgs.gov/reports/wrir_99-4208.pdf