Oral history project "Coal miners and dust-related disease" aimed to reconstruct the story of the human tragedy of coal miners' respiratory disease. It sought to "write the history of 'black spit' from its early discovery by Scottish physicians in the 19th century, through to the official recognition of coal workers' pneumoconiosis in 1942 and on to the campaigns to recognise bronchitis and emphysima as industrial diseases in the second half of the twentieth century that culminated in the landmark legal judgement in January 1998".
Of a reported number of 52 interviews undertaken, 27 survive as sound recording and transcript (14) or transcript only (13).
Coal miners and dust-related disease oral history project
This material is held atUniversity of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections
- Reference
- GB 249 SOHC 6
- Dates of Creation
- Digital copies, 2016, Original recordings, 2002, 2004-2005
- Name of Creator
- Language of Material
- English
- Physical Description
- 16 compact cassettes + 23 MP3 files + 26 MS Word files + 2 folders
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
The Scottish Oral History Centre (SOHC) was set up within the Department of History at the University of Strathclyde in 1995. Since its foundation the SOHC has been involved in a wide range of teaching, research and outreach activities designed primarily to encourage the use of ‘best practice’ oral history methodology in Scotland. Until 2005, the SOHC was directed by Professor Callum Brown, since then by Professor Arthur McIvor.
Arrangement
14 interviews whose sound survives were listed first, in roughly chronological order.
These are followed by 13 interviews that survive as transcripts only, in chronological order.
Access Information
6 interviewees requested anonymity. Otherwise no access restrictions.
Note
The Scottish Oral History Centre (SOHC) was set up within the Department of History at the University of Strathclyde in 1995. Since its foundation the SOHC has been involved in a wide range of teaching, research and outreach activities designed primarily to encourage the use of ‘best practice’ oral history methodology in Scotland. Until 2005, the SOHC was directed by Professor Callum Brown, since then by Professor Arthur McIvor.
McIvor, A and Johnston, R (2007) \Miners' lung: a history of dust disease in British coal mining\ (Aldershot, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate), pp. 319-324: appendix (lists entire oral history project)
Archivist's Note
Created by Anna-K Mayer, 26 January 2017
Current location sound recordings: Baird 27.2; analogue transcripts at Baird 27.4/akm February 2017
Custodial History
Transferred from SOHC in 2015 and 2016. The project's original SOHC ID was SOHCA/017. In addition to the title "Coal miners and dust-related disease", the material has occasionally been referred to by the title "Social history of coal-dust disease". At times its content has also been listed as a component of SOHC "Work and health in Scotland oral history project" and of SOHC "Clydeside heavy industries oral history project". The original recordings were made predominantly in 2004-2005 using a cassette recorder. In 2016, they were digitised to uncompressed, unaltered 24 bit/96kHz BWF format for preservation and 16bit/48kHz MP3 copies created for access.
Additional Information
published