Roy McMasters still remembers the day his father passed away.
The mining disaster and aftermath that captured the world’s attention in 1958 was 11-years gone in 1969 when a seven-year-old Roy was sitting on the front step of the Pleasant Street home.
“Mom had four kids, so he left her with four kids,” Roy said. “We were all sitting on the steps listening to what was going on because mom started crying. I can still remember.”
His father – Earl ‘Chubs’ McMasters – was one of the last men to be killed mining in this community.
Fittingly, his memory was one of the first two to be installed at the Miners Museum and Tour-A-Mine. The other belongs to the memory of William ‘Bill’ James. He began work as a miner when he was only 14, and later the museum’s first manager.
Today his granddaughter Roberta McMasters is the current curator and museum manager.
The museum undertook rebuilding its signature coal carts in front of its grounds and to help fund the repairs turned to the public for sponsorship. In a win-win situation, friends and family members can add a memorial plaque to the carts, supporting the reconstruction while remembering loved ones.
Miners who passed away while working in the mines are remembered with a gold-coloured plaque, while miners who survived the perils of their job are remembered with a maroon-coloured plaque.
“We had to rebuild the coal boxes because they were a disaster, so as a way to came up with this idea,” Roberta said.
“There were hundreds of people killed in the mines here,’ Roy said. Their grandsons and people like that, when they find out about this, we’re hoping to get enough to do both sides.”
Each memorial plaque is $100. For more information contact the museum at 902-597-3449.
