The Legacy of the #SpringhillBump

It's a divided highway that brings you from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia through a marshy area, one that a certain university's students tend to frolic in from time to time, or at least I've heard that they did.  Not too long after you pass the marshy low land there's a big blue sign at the side of the road picturing a man wearing a hat with a headlamp.  It's a sign for the Miners Memorial Highway.  Designated in the fall of 2008, leading up to the 50th anniversary of what is know known as the Springhill Mine Disaster, although there were many, the highway is described by the then Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal: "This highway designation will remind all Nova Scotians and visitors of the sacrifice generations of miners and their families have made across the province[.]" You can read the entire press release from which the above quote was taken here.

I could list the designations, plaques and sites related to mining history in Nova Scotia.  I could describe the pain of the weeks, months and years that followed the 1958 bump.  I could list the numerous mining disasters that have touched Nova Scotia, Canada and the world in the years since.  But as I listen to Bono belt out Luke Kelly's The Springhill Mine Disaster I feel compelled to simply provide you the link and let you listen for yourselves and reflect upon the way of life that mining was, and is, and the legacy that the industry has impressed upon the towns, the province and the region.

What I hope to have communicated with you through this blog post is that there are so many different ways to react to an event like the Springhill Mine Disaster, or to interpret the ways it is presented through YouTube videos, plaques, stories and Twitter projects.  I hope you're been able to connect on some level with the past, present and potential future reality of coal mining and the complex relationship that is has with the province of Nova Scotia.

I want to leave you with the most simple and poignant reminder of what happened.  A list of the men that died.
http://www.mininghistory.ns.ca/springhill/sp-r-a01.htm
http://www.mininghistory.ns.ca/springhill/sp-r-a02.htm

I hope you're learned and been able to engage with the story that I've related over the past week and a half.

Best,
Rebecca

Miracles & Heroes

The theme of miracles and heroes runs deep in the coverage of the Springhill Mine Disaster.  Through newspaper articles and editorials as well as news coverage like the idea that a miracle might happen was common.

Why?  In 1956 an explosion occurred in the mineshaft of the neighbouring No. 4 colliery.  Those miners who survived the initial explosion and onslaught of gasses were trapped below for days before they could be rescued. In the end 88 men were rescued while 39 perished including workers on the surface.  Throughout coverage of the two disasters, the drägermen are always heralded as the heroes.  The drägermen are rescuers who wear special breathing apparatuses due to the possibility of toxic gases below ground.  They are the heroes who figure prominently, yet work hard and remain largely silent in newspaper reports.  They are men, just like those trapped, and they stick to their Miner’s Code and don’t give up on one another.

The Ottawa Citizen described them and commented on the "Miracle in Springhill" on November 3, 1958: "The Heroes of Springhill"
Of the draegermen they said that "no name will shine forth more brightly"
"They continued their frantic efforts two miles beneath the surface of the earth, without pause, throughout the weekend.  Working around the clock, they sought still more survivors."

The double miracle of the 1958 Springhill Mine Disaster can be interpreted as an answer to the grief and sorrow and tragedy that had affected the town through previous mine disasters, a fire and then the bump of October 23, 1958.  It can be seen as an answer from some higher being to the question Why Us? Why so many times? Why so much sadness?

Although the double miracle can answer this difficult question for the 18 families whose ‘menfolk’ were found alive (Percy Rector died on October 28) it could not for the 75 whose men came out of the mine under cloaks of death.  In moments of mass trauma and grief, how do those who experience loss deal with the fallout?  Is it through believing and hoping for these miracles?  Does the hope alleviate the pain?

I like to believe in looking on the bright side during moments of intense grief or trauma.  It’s not always possible, or easy, and I’ve tried many times in the last few years to tell myself that things will get better, it’s all for the best and that life does go on.  It’s one thing to tell yourself that when something personal happens but it’s another to tell yourself that amidst a massive trauma that affects groups you will be able to stay strong.  How did 75 families even attempt to look on the bright side?  It must have been incredibly saddening to hear of the found men, not only once but twice, and not see your husband, son or father’s face among them.  This is something I cannot imagine and have no desire to experience first hand.

Am keen to hear your ideas and reactions.  And your own thoughts on the miracles and heroes of the Springhill Bump as this project wraps up,

Best,

Rebecca