Materials related to research on the early 20th century coal mining industry in Pennsylvania including handwritten research notes and field notebooks primarily created between 1986 and 1991. In addition, newspaper clippings, historical documents, and mining town photos provide a look into life for coal mining families around the time of the coal strike of 1927. These materials also contain correspondences pertaining to Michrina's ethnographic research project and the making of his book Pennsylvania mining families: The search for dignity in the coalfields, published in 1993.