Rocked in the Cradle of Coal

It is 1917 and the United States is recovering from the costly first World War. Inflation hits hard, especially in the coal regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Long work days for low pay provided barely enough to scrape by before, but now families are forced to make difficult decisions. What groceries are optional? Does Mama really need cream in her coffee? Probably not. Is a nine-year-old boy too young to quit school and work full-time in the mines? Maybe... maybe not. In this coming-of-age story, Katie's brother Wasyl sees his widowed mother struggling to buy food and pay bills. He wants to get a job to help her and his sisters, but Mama insists that he not work in the mines as so many other boys his age are doing. He wishes he had a father to guide him through the harsh realities of growing up in coal country, but Wasyl's father is a big secret that no one ever discusses. The only thing Wasyl knows about his father is what Mama always says, "the mines killed him." Then one day the truth comes out in the most traumatic way. There is so much he doesn't understand but forced to face the truth, Wasyl wrestles with the question: Is it kinder to keep secrets, or to deal with them honestly and openly even if it hurts? Wasyl is about to find out.

At thirteen, as the oldest of five children, Ann feels an obligation to contribute to her family's income. She realizes there is only so much her widowed mother can do alone to support their family, so Ann bravely steps into the role of an adult, working full-time in service to a wealthy family uptown. In 1913, in her Pennsylvania coal town, quitting school early to help support the family is a common rite of passage. Ann has grown up poor, so she knows what it means to sacrifice her own desires for others. Often, girls of the early 20th century took whatever menial work they could find to supplement their famiy's income. They cooked, cleaned, did laundry, or took care of other people's children. Factories and mills snapped others up as cheap child labor, because these girls were smaller and quicker than adults and didn't need to be paid as much. In the early 20th century women had very few rights, and female children had none. But, in the mansion, Ann meets the class differences and modern conveniences that separate her family's shabby neighborhood of mine-owned company houses and the luxuries her wealthy employers take for granted. Ann and several other female servants in the mansion share all the trials and adventures of teenage life and love as they adjust to their new "big girl" roles. At the same time, they are experiencing the culture shock of living between rich versus poor and child versus adult. In the process, Ann decides that she never wants to be so poor again. In the big house on the hill, Ann and her new friends find help and support from unexpected sources. They discover that people everywhere are just people, and we all must help each other.

Northeastern Pennsylvania was the cradle of the coal industry in the early 1900s. Immigrants escaping poverty and hunger in Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, and other countries were eagerly recruited by the anthracite mine barons to provide cheap labor in exchange for the promise of a better life in North America. Upon arriving in their new country, immigrants soon discovered that the streets were not made of gold. Because they were part of a vast low-skilled labor force and did not speak English well (although they may have spoken three or four other languages), they faced prejudice and were ridiculed with ethnic slurs. With limited resources and a language barrier that separated them from the mainstream culture, these proud immigrants found strength in ethnic neighborhoods, societies, and their faith. They persevered with a strong work ethic, self-respect, and love for each other. Rocked in the Cradle of Coal stories are based on fact although not politically correct by today's standards. The situations and conversations are purely a product of oral tradition and the author's imagination... but they could have happened in any immigrant home at that time. Book 1: Peeling Potatoes: Katie's Story It is 1914. Katie lives with her widowed mother and four older siblings on the edge of a coal mine near the river. Her young life is about to change. She must start school one year early so Mama can work full-time. Katie speaks Russian, but she hardly knows any English words. She's shy, she doesn't know any other children in the first grade, and she's a year younger than everyone else. She wants to be brave and help her family. Can she do it?