Interview with Tom Handy, November 19, 1988

Interview Summary

Tom Handy was born in 1919 and grew up in Menifee County, Kentucky on a farm where he was the primary worker. His father worked in the logging industry, the oil fields, and in a factory in Ohio. He reports that the coal camps had a good reputation, but that he never had a desire to go underground. He remembers that his father worked at a rock quarry six days a week for twelve and a half cents an hour. He wielded a sixteen-pound sledgehammer and paid 25 cents a day for a ride to the quarry. Mr. Handy recalls cattle drives to Mt. Sterling, and geese drives, too. He attended a Moonlight School in Plumrow in the mid-1930s. Mr. Handy also describes his experience in the army in Italy during World War Two.

Interview Keyword

Appalachian people Appalachian social issues Coal mining Farming Coal camps Employment Education--Kentucky World War II

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Handy, Tom, 1919- Handy, Tom, 1919- --Interviews

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.