The Archaeology of Working Class Identity at the Industrial Coal Mining Camp in Superior, Colorado

Summary

The history of coal mining in Colorado is a substantial portion of the narrative of the state’s history and broader labor issues that are still relevant today. This paper will study how working class identity is negotiated and revealed through material and spatial remains of worker housing at the Industrial Mine in Superior, Colorado. The Industrial Mine was in operation from 1895 to 1945 and played a key role in the development of labor unions and laws, which laid the foundation for the modern labor movement. Using Geographic Information System applications for spatial analysis of artifact distribution as well as oral history and archaeological analysis, this paper explores the social and economic environments as well as occupational stressors that led to social cohesion and solidarity between the miners, contributing to the formation of a working class identity integral to resistance of the mining company's policies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of Workers’ Housing   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 200