Miner’s Story Project

“There are so many things to learn underground, you learn from everybody if you listen.”
–Ernie Jimenez, fourth generation miner from Bisbee, AZ.

The miners who toiled beneath the earth of the Southwest lived in a world of dynamite blasts, darkness, and danger. Proud of the hands that crushed rock and carved tunnels, the men and women also relied on their wits to meet the challenges of work in the depths. Underground, each miner was an electrician, an architect, a drill operator, a train conductor–and in disaster, a doctor and a priest. But underground miners and the rough-and-tumble towns they called home have almost disappeared.

The Miners’ Story Project will preserve and share stories about life in mines and mining communities in the Southwest U.S. These stories will be captured on high quality digital audio recordings, and will enrich and enliven the exhibits at the University of Arizona’s Mineral Museum when it moves to its new downtown Tucson location as part of the new University of Arizona Science Center.

Click here to go to the Miner’s Story Website.