The Hawk’s Nest Tunnel Disaster

The Hawk’s Nest Tunnel Disaster involved thousands of workers being exposed to silica dust, and many continued to get sick and die for years after the tunnel was finished. The project was run with total disregard for workers’ lives and safety.

Research:

• Investigation Relating to Health Conditions of Workers Employed in the Construction and Maintenance of Public Utilities : hearings before the United States House Committee on Labor, Seventy-Fourth Congress, second session, on Jan. 16, 17, 20-22, 27-29, Feb. 4, 1936.” https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=OhHRhNWDGi4C&pg=GBS.PA1&hl=en
• Cherniack, Martin G. “Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster.” e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 14 March 2023. Web. 08 August 2023.
• Cherniack, Martin. “The Hawk’s Nest Incident: America’s Worst Industrial Disaster.” Yale University Press. 1986.
• Crandall, William “Rick” and Richard E. Crandall. “Revisiting the Hawks Nest Tunnel Incident: Lessons Learned from an American Tragedy.” Journal of Appalachian Studies , Fall 2002, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Fall 2002). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446542
• Georgius Agricola “De re metallica.” Translated by Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover. The Mining Magazine. 1912. https://archive.org/details/georgiusagricola00agririch
• Harrington, D. and Sara J. Davenport. “Review of the Literature on the Effects of Breathing Dusts, With Special Reference to Silicosis.” United States Bureau of Mines.
• House of Representatives Subcommittee Report. “Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Second Session of the
• Jordan, Jennifer. “Hawks’ Nest.” From the West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly, 12:2(April 1998): 1-3. https://archive.wvculture.org/history/wvhs/wvhs122.html
• Lancianese, Adelina. “Before Black Lung, The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster Killed Hundreds.” Weekend Edition Sunday. NPR. 1/20/2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/20/685821214/before-black-lung-the-hawks-nest-tunnel-disaster-killed-hundreds
• Marcus, Irwin M. “The Tragedy at Gauley Bridge.” Negro History Bulletin , April, 1976, Vol. 39, No. 4 (April, 1976). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44175749
• Quail, M. Thomas. “Special Report.” Journal of Environmental Health , January/February 2017, Vol. 79, No. 6. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26330599
• Rosner D, Markowitz G. A Short History of Occupational Safety and Health in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2020 May;110(5):622-628. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305581. Epub 2020 Mar 19. PMID: 32191514; PMCID: PMC7144431.
• Rosner, David and Gerald Markowitz. “Workers, Industry, and the Control of Information: Silicosis and the Industrial Hygiene Foundation.” Journal of Public Health Policy. 16, No. 1 (Spring, 1995). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3342976
• Rukeyser, Muriel. “The Book of the Dead.” With an introduction by Catherine Venable Moore. West Virginia University press. 2018.
• Seventy- Fourth Congress of the United States of America. Vol. 80, pt. 5. Washington: GPO, 1936.” From West Virginia Archives and History. https://archive.wvculture.org/hiStory/disasters/hawksnesttunnel04.html
• Spencer, Howard W. “The Historic & Cultural Importance of the Hawks Nest Disaster.” PSJ Professional Safety. February 2023. https://www.assp.org/docs/default-source/psj-articles/vpspencer_0223.pdf?sfvrsn=afa39647_0
• Stafnaker, C. Keith. “Hawk’s Nest Tunnel: A Forgotten Tragedy in Safety’s History.” Professional Safety. October 2006.
• Wills, Matthew. “Remembering the Disaster at Hawks Nest.” JSTOR Daily. 10/30/2020. https://daily.jstor.org/remembering-the-disaster-at-hawks-nest/

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