Interview with Spurlock Cure, June 12, 1987
Project: Appalachia: Social History and Cultural Change in the Elkhorn Coal Fields Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Spurlock Cure worked in and around coal mines for thirteen years. He began work as a miner in 1945 at age seventeen and earned five dollars a day. His grandfather was Orville Cure, a renowned Pike County carpenter. Cure describes the extraordinary craftsmanship exhibited by his grandfather. His grandfather earned extra money by riding rafts of logs from Elkhorn City to Catlettsburg when the logging industry was active in the area. Cure describes the eleven-acre farm he grew up on near Elkhorn Creek. His father, Reuben, had a sawmill and a gristmill, as well as chickens, pigs, and cows. Cure reflects on changing community values. He remembers that when he was growing up, "neighbors helped neighbors." He also talks about the working conditions miners were subjected to, such as working in standing water, moving rock for no pay, and the lack of safety measures. He talks about the struggle to unionize the mines and the failure of younger miners to recognize the value of the union.Interview Accession
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Interviewer Name
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Interview LC Subject
Appalachian Region Coal miners Coal miners--Kentucky--Elkhorn City Coal miners--Kentucky--Pike County Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Elkhorn City Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--Pike County Cure, Spurlock Cure, Spurlock--Interviews Pike County (Ky.) Pike County (Ky.)--Social life and customs Grandfathers Elkhorn City (Ky.) Carpentry FathersInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Cure, Spurlock Interview by Nyoka Hawkins. 12 Jun. 1987. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Cure, S. (1987, June 12). Interview by N. Hawkins. Appalachia: Social History and Cultural Change in the Elkhorn Coal Fields Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Cure, Spurlock, interview by Nyoka Hawkins. June 12, 1987, Appalachia: Social History and Cultural Change in the Elkhorn Coal Fields Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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