Occupational Disease and Career Trajectory in Hard Coal, 1870–1930

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, workers in the anthracite industry commonly followed career paths that led to respiratory impairment. In turn, work-induced pulmonary difficulties explain much of the downward mobility of older miners in this period. Managerial practice both accommodated and exacerbated disability. The United Mine Workers of America dealt with this problem primarily through agitation for legislative reform.