Introduction

This Webquest will take you back to a Black December in Monongah, a small West Virginia mining town, where on December 6, 1907 approximately 361 miners lost their lives in the worst mining disaster in history.   Grave diggers later claimed that the death total exceeds 620 individuals that include an undetermined number of other family members who were also working in the mine.  This disaster illustrated the need for federal safety regulations in mines.  

As we mark the 100th Anniversay of the Monongah Mine disaster, the need for federal safety regulations still loom over the heads of mining industries. This Webquest will probe into the veins and heart of what drives the coal mining families.