Centralia, Pennsylvania, a small town of 1,000 residents, is the site of fires that have burned underground through the tunnels and veins of an abandoned coal mine for almost twenty years. Correspondent Hodding Carter investigates Centralia's charge against the national press of exploitation, misrepresentation, and sensationalism.

Depicts the struggle of the residents of a small Appalachian community in Pennsylvania as they search to find a permanent solution to an underground mine fire which has been raging out of control for twenty years. Examines the ways an environmental disaster can erode civic cooperation, destroy self-confidence, and test the values of small-town America.

From the early 1920s until his death in 1969, Dr. Robert Douglas Spencer practiced medicine in a small town in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. Dr. Spencer treated colds, set fractures, and provided basic medical care. He also performed illegal abortions. After he did his first abortion in 1923 for a poor coal miner's wife, the doctor's reputation spread. Soon he was receiving letters from women across the country, asking for his help. This tape features interviews with the doctor's wife, local townspeople, and women who traveled from all over seeking help. (PSU Access Only)

Presents the stories of Eastern Europeans who emigrated to Northeastern Pennsylvania during the early decades of the 20th century, in order to escape their war-ravaged homelands and begin a new life in America. Emphasizes the sense of community, family, and religious values that these immigrants maintained, even in the midst of a new land and a new culture.

"Through stories and songs of the past, Rich Pawling as Frank Kehoe tells of the lifestyle of a miner, home in the 'patch', the company store, the progression from breaker boy to eventually 'miner with papers', the Mollie Maguires, the Lattimer Massacre, the United Mine Workers, and the Strike of 1902." -- on container.

Examines four historical sites in northeastern Pennsylvania: Steamtown National Historical Site, Scranton; Lackawanna County coal mine tour at McDade Park, Scranton; Eckley Miner's Village, Weatherly; and the Lackawanna Trolley Museum, Scranton. Includes interviews with local historians.

Documentary film looking at the Knox Mine disaster of Jan. 22, 1959. Includes original press footage of the rescue operations and subsequent hearings, as well as more recent interviews with disaster survivors.

A secret society of militant coal miners fights their exploitation by the mine owners with violence, intimidation, and sometimes murder. A detective goes undercover to infiltrate the group for the owners, fighting to win the workers, trust, and finally, fighting his own conscience.

Tells the fascinating story of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, from its origin in the 1700s through the end of the "Molly Maguire Era." Features interviews with local historians from throughout the County, extremely rare historical photographs and documents, a music soundtrack with folk tunes played on instruments of the 1800s, and more.

"Discover the people of Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region from the days when hard coal was king." --from Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission website.

A documentary that recounts the epic human rights conflict between immigrant anthracite coal miners, turn-of-the-century industrialists and the United States government. The film blends dramatic re-enactments with archival film footage and photographs to show how America's ascendency as the world's pre-eminent superpower was fueled by the extraordinary social and industrial impact of anthracite coal mining in northeastern Pennsylvania.

In 1962, a trash fire ignited a seam of anthracite coal beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania, a town of over 3,000 people. By the mid-1980s, giant plumes of smoke and deadly carbon monoxide gases billowed from fissures in the ground. Today, 11 die-hards remain.