Segregated Coal Town

Segregated Coal Town. New River Gorge National River. , You are standing in the heart of Nuttallburg's African-American community. The school for black children once stood on the foundation in front of you. The church for blacks stood on the foundation behind you. When coal companies designed their towns, they segregated workers by race and nationality, a reflection of life in America at that time., African-Americans made up a large part of the work force in mines throughout the region. Many were immigrants from the South seeking a better life. Though life here was hard, it was better than the one they had left., A Life Shaped Here , The life of educator, historian, and scholar Carter G. Woodson was shaped in and around Nuttallburg., At age 17, to earn money for schooling, Woodson came here with his brothers to mine coal. For several years he worked in the Nuttallburg Mine and the nearby Kaymoor Mine. While here he read newspapers to black miners who could not read. Later, after earning his Bachelor of Literature degree, Woodson returned to teach in the town of Winona, a short distance from Nuttallburg. It is possible that Woodson visited-and perhaps taught in- the black school here in Nuttallburg. Woodson went on to become the second African-American to earn a PhD from Harvard University. He founded the Journal of Negro History and what is now known as Black History Month. He is often remembered as the Father of Black History.