About Mine Accidents
Mining has always been a dangerous activity. This Guide will help you identify information about mine accidents, and historic mine disasters and the people involved. Some of these resources are not scholarly or peer-reviewed, but they can provide leads and help further your research.
Publications, Safety & Prevention
You can find a number of publications on the technical aspects, training efforts, and forensic work involved in mine accidents, as well as the impacts on communities, labor, and the mining industries. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) develops and enforces safety and health rules for all U.S. mines and provides assistance and training (see MSHA's "Fatalgrams").
To find books, articles, and government publications from the U.S. Bureau of Mines, MSHA and others; and Fatalgram illustrations:
- Mine Safety & Health AdministrationNews & media; data; reports; regulations; training & education
- Library Catalog - Colorado School of Mines This link opens in a new window
Search the library's catalog for physical and electronic resources to find books, articles, maps, videos, and more. - Mines Repository This link opens in a new window
Mountain Scholar has digital images from the Library's Special Collections. These include illustrations of mine accidents.
- Reports of the Industrial Commission of ColoradoReports for 1897/98 and an incomplete series from 1915-1962/64 on workman's compensation and industrial conditions.
- Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and SafetyRegulates mine safety for the State of Colorado.
Bureau of Mines (Mining Bureau), State of Colorado
- Annual and Biennial ReportsReports from 1893 to 1965 include information on mine accidents and safety programs
Mine Disasters & Events
- All Mine Disasters: 1839 to Present (NIOSH)National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health--Mining
- Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) currently includes more than 880,000 digitized pages, representing over 200 individual newspaper titles published in Colorado primarily from 1859 to 1923.
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1777-1963.
- Mine Disasters in the United StatesUnited States Mine Rescue Association
Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the US Vol. 1: Coal Mines 1810-1958Call Number: L 38.2:H 62/SUM./Publication Date: 1999- Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the US Vol. II: Coal Mines 1959-1998Publication Date: 1999
People
Resources to look for --
- Annual or biennial reports from a state agency that oversees mining, for example a bureau of mines, department of mining and minerals, etc. These publications often contain annual lists of fatalities and descriptions of accidents.
- State offices of vital records or public health -- for death certificates, cause of death
- State, regional or local historical societies and archives; commemorative organizations; memorials
- Local genealogy societies, genealogy websites
Specific resources --
- Gerald E. Sherard Mine Accident IndexA0176 Gerald E. Sherard Collection, Russell L. & Lyn Wood Mining History Archive
- US GenWeb Project (by State)Obituaries, vital records, memorials, disasters
- Tombstone Transcription Project (USGenWeb)Tombstone inscriptions
- GenDisasters (Browse by Disaster)Transcripts of newspaper articles