Five black granite tablets with more than 3,000 names surround The Coal Miner Memorial gracing the entrance to Bethlehem-Center High School.
The memorial began in the mind of Thomas Shimrock, Beth-Center's art teacher. He wanted his students to learn to cast in bronze. The idea "snowballed," he said. "The memorial honors all the southwestern Pennsylvania coal miners who worked their whole lives in the mines, and what did they have to show for it but broken-down coal tipples and slate dumps."
Shimrock's art students began designs for the memorial and ideas took shape.
"We wanted to combine the characteristics of these people into a composite of the miner," he said. "We wanted to show him during lunch break, eating an apple, and reading a book while sitting on a pile of coal. It's something with depth to it."
Shimrock enlisted the help of artist Alan Cottrill, the sculptor whose works are seen at California University of Pennsylvania. Cottrill sculptured the figure, charging only for cost of materials. "It turns out the coal miner is one of Alan's strongest compositions of sculpture," said Shimrock.
"My art students made all the accoutrements for the miner," Shimrock said, including his helmet, lamp, battery pack, pile of coal and the book he holds.
Shimrock described the complicated task of sculpting the miner. It began as clay with steel underneath. That was cut in half, with each half cast in rubber. Then plaster was applied on top of the rubber to form a "mother mold." After the mold was cut apart, painted with wax and cleaned, it was ready for bronze.
"Pieces are cut to hold up to 300 pounds of bronze," Shimrock said. When the kiln is hot, it melts the wax, and the cavity that remains is filled with bronze. "This age-old wax technique was used by the Egyptians 3,000 years ago."
Since Shimrock's idea originated because he wanted his students to learn how to cast in bronze. "All my kids in the project went out to Zanesville, Ohio, to watch the casting process, to watch them pour at 3,000 degrees," he said.
The 53 bronze pieces of the miner then had to be put back together and the patina applied.
When it was time to prepare a place for the miner, Shimrock said his students helped. Tie-rods for the footer required someone small enough to fit in a tight space; a 92-pound girl student worked perfectly, he said. Students from Beth Center's vocational-technical school did concrete work, laid block, planted trees and did landscaping. Shimrock credits Sean Virgili, a Beth-Center teacher, "for major work on the project."
When Shimrock started work on the coal miner in 2000, it became a 24-hour, seven-day a week project.
"It was always on my mind," Shimrock said.
Information had to be supplied and pledges gathered. When news of the sculpture surfaced, many felt a high school project might not be worth an investment, Shimrock said, but soon the United Mine Workers of America, coal corporations, and politicians stepped forward as contributors and the effort snowballed.
"Everybody wanted on it. Some came with major funding," Shimrock said.
For $50, a miner's name was engraved into the three shiny black Pennsylvania granite tablets that surrounded the sculpture.
Dedication was held May 31, 2002.
"It was a beautiful day," said Richard Martin, Beth-Center's principal. "Our band played, the choir sang." Two thousand people attended along with dignitaries from far and wide.
Beneath the 7-foot high coal miner sculpture is a verse written by 12th-grade English teacher Kathryn Teagarden:
"They who work the mines and they who read great books are but one; their name is human. By the labor of their hands, through the exercise of their minds, and in the strength of their spirit, they will prevail."
People were so impressed with the sculpture that two additional granite tablets were added. "There are more than 3,000 names now," Shimrock said. Etched at the top of the tablets are symbols of a miner, a canary, coal tipple and safety lamp.
"Everyone in the district was involved in this project," Martin said. "Art, vocational-tech, environmental science, history, library and English departments all participated."
Cheryl Biscardi, Beth-Center librarian, maintains a room for a collection of books, prints, cassettes, newspaper articles, and artifacts such as the lunch box and safety lamp that miners used. There is even a lump of coal. She displays a model of the village of Marianna circa 1907, constructed by a student.
The disaster at Quecreek Mine in Somerset County occurred on July 24, 2002, shortly after the May dedication of the coal miner sculpture. Since the dramatic rescue of the nine trapped miners, an exact replica of the sculpture at Beth-Center is on display at Quecreek, Shimrock said.
Martin recalled being in Las Vegas on the first anniversary of the Quecreek incident. The television had a story about Quecreek that included the coal miner sculpture. As the familiar figure appeared on the screen, a surprised Martin said, "There's my coal miner -- in Las Vegas."
