He laid the objects thoughtfully on top of the three card tables in his garage, a showcase of coveted and kept personal history of his family’s deep connection with the town, and with coal. Frank Scigliano is a third generation Italian American and member of a multigenerational lineage who originally emigrated to the Kemmerer and Diamondville area to work in the local mines. His grandfather worked the mines, his father was killed in the mines, and he continued that labor tradition until he retired twenty some-odd years ago. He now spends his time attending high school sports games and regularly attends the local historical society’s meetings at the public library.
Frank ran his fingers along the black and white photographs and slightly bent miners’ tags, recounting personal vignettes of each object. Excitedly, he shared their provenance while weaving in longer narratives of ethnic social clubs, horrific mine disasters, the power of the United Mine Workers of America union, and the mining heritage of this place he calls home. He paused in his storytelling, a contemplative look on his face, and he quietly asked us, “What’s going to happen when the coal’s gone? Are people going to remember us?”
I visited Frank with a team of interviewers and oral historians from the University of Wyoming in the summer of 2022, recording the hopes and fears of residents in an uncertain time of energy transition. His concern with labor remembrance led me to this research. What Happens When the Coal’s Gone explores how evolving and shifting labor practices in this transitioning coal-centered economy affect public memory of labor and heritage. I am interested in how a community-rooted, object-centered preservation of labor can unfold within an accessible online space. In addition, I am interested in the ability of historical objects and material culture to convey labor history to a wider audience through personal and public memories.
Jere Borino’s father worked in Diamondville #2 mine, until an accident left him with sustained injuries, prohibiting him from returning to work underground. He opened up a smokehouse on the main street of Diamondville, an establishment where patrons could smoke cigars, drink whiskey, play cards, and visit the working girls in the back room brothel. The smokehouse has stayed in the Borino family for over 100 years, and in the early 2000s Jere turned it into the free, public history museum that it is today. “Things keep disappearing around here,” Jere told me, “This stuff in here connects us directly to our history.”
A 2023 Teaching and Research Grant from the AHC, in addition to a digital preservation grant from the Wyoming Humanities, has funded three fieldwork trips to Kemmerer and Diamondville. It was through these trips that I was able to continue building relationships with memory keepers and collectors within the community.
I worked with three public memory keepers who shared their collections of objects and artifacts with me: Jere Borino, Frank Scigliano, and Brad Carter. These collections exist in the form of home museums, accessible to anyone who is interested in learning more about regional history through these personal objects and memories. I photographed a selection of objects and the respective memory keepers contextualized the items, providing narrative entry points into larger stories of the labor and community creation of Kemmerer and Diamondville.
These objects, and the memory keepers’ contextualization, are the centerpiece of the website I am presently building out. In this interactive website there are also accompanying oral history excerpts, archival photos, video, and landscape imagery. The site will launch in March 2024 with a celebratory event in downtown Kemmerer.
At the AHC, they’re all about supporting UW’s commitment to teaching, research, public service, and cultural outreach. They make it possible by encouraging the exploration and interpretation of our nation’s history. Their Teaching and Research Grants are a great opportunity for UW students, faculty, academic professionals, and staff to undertake or build on interesting projects. Whether it’s independent research, collaborative efforts, crafting new courses, or organizing symposia, these grants can spark exciting journeys.
See the AHC website at https://www.uwyo.edu/ahc/grants/index.html for more information.
Post contributed by Aubrey Edwards.
