Tucked in a wooded valley along the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway, a quaint neighborhood rests atop what used to be the Hocking Valley Coal Company’s Eclipse Mine No. 4.
Almost 80 years ago, miners lined the town’s only gravel road in protest of a government shut-down during the Great Depression. A crowd of more than 100 gathered at the Eclipse Mining Town this past weekend to honor the women who stood beside those miners and tied the region’s coal communities together while their husbands worked underground.
“If the men were on strike, the women were just as adamant,” said Cheryl Blosser, historian and office coordinator for the Little Cities of Black Diamonds (LCBD), which hosted the event. “They stood by their men, defending their right to have families and lives.”
“Women of the Little Cities” was the theme of Saturday’s ninth annual Appalachian Spring Festival. Handmade wedding gowns, old-fashioned jewels and antique kitchen supplies covered the floor of the recently-restored Eclipse Company Store while Appalachian folk tunes and the smell of homemade pie filtered outside.
“The highlight of the (annual) festival was when the building was restored and we could finally move our exhibits inside,” said Susan Mingus, a member of the LCBD Council who has volunteered at the festival six times.
Miners and their families paid bills and traded goods at the general store in the early 1900s. It was neglected after the mine shut down and used to store hay until 1997. A group of five friends with an interest in local history brought it back to life.
“They still have their buildings left, while so many of those in other coal mining towns have burned down or are gone,” Blosser said. “The fact that they have saved them is the best part of the story.”
The makeshift barn was renovated into a café, where chef David Lopez now whips up gourmet French toast and his special omelet for brunch each Sunday.
But on one of the tables usually topped with hot coffee and fresh-cut flowers, Mingus pointed to an elaborate red-and-blue-patterned quilt.
“This was made by my great-grandmother,” she said. “I guess that’s why it’s my favorite piece we have here today.”
Hanging on the wall to her right was a photo exhibit of the eight “inspiring women of the Little Cities,” named by the LCBD Council last October. The women, both alive and dead, were recognized for their love of teaching, volunteering and advocating women’s rights.
“Women really didn’t get the recognition they deserved,” Blosser said. “We’re talking about a male-dominated community, and a lot of the early histories don’t mention women.”
One woman whose photo hung on the wall was Dianna McCauley. Since moving to Glouster from western New York in the ’70s, her mission has been to improve educational opportunities for area children. Just outside of the Company Store, McCauley was collecting money from hungry visitors at the end of the buffet line.
“At this point in my career, I have a real commitment to enhancing schools and student improvement regardless to the limited resources around here,” she said. “That’s one of the things I’m most proud of.”
Just next to McCauley’s photo was one of Bertha Levion. In 1892, Levion was born into one of the town’s few Jewish families. She was a teacher, school board member, store operator and the neighborhood seamstress in Corning. Near the end of Saturday’s celebration, actress Kathy Devecka entertained the audience by portraying Levion in a Living History Character Performance.
The LCBD Council decided, however, that recognizing eight women was not enough. In October, they will be publishing the “Inspiring Women of the Little Cities Registry,” featuring honorees, newly nominated women and past winners. The registry will be sold and distributed to libraries around the Little Cities for local women whose names never made it into the history books to finally be recognized.
“You have to be tough to be a coal miner,” Blosser said. “But you have to be really tough to be a coal miner’s wife.”
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