THE NEWSLETTER OF THE HUBER BREAKER PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Volume 3, Number 1 January 2004
Earth Conservancy Donates Deed to Land for Huber Breaker Overlook Site
On Friday, January 16, 2004, the Huber Breaker Preservation Society took possession of a three-acre parcel of land facing the Huber Breaker in Ashley, to be used as an overlook area for visitors. The land was donated by Earth Conservancy, which has its offices on adjoining ground. Tony Mussari, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society, signed the deed for the land at a noontime public ceremony held at the Earth Conservancy building.
Mike Dziak, President of Earth Conservancy, presented the deed for signing. He noted that although the primary mission of Earth Conservancy is the reclamation of mine lands, it is also a concern of the organization to honor the heritage of anthracite mining. Preserving the Huber Breaker for public access and study will serve that end.
Tony Mussari declared that this acquisition of land for a visitor overlook at the Huber is both a tribute to the past and also a step forward. A community builds for the future when it respects and maintains the monuments of its origin. The network of mines and railroads that connected Northeastern Pennsylvania to the industrial centers of the eastern United States comprise a regional monument of great significance and interest. How Americans in the nineteenth century devised means to fuel the manufacturing and transportation systems demanded by their new technologies and their expanding population is historical drama of the first order.
Energy remains a central challenge of the modern world. What are the available sources? How can they be used? What are the risks? Visitors to the Huber Breaker can learn how engineers and mine workers confronted this critical cause before oil and natural gas had been tapped, or nuclear fuels even imagined. It is still coal that fuels half the nation’s electric power stations. But energy is today gathered from around the world. Anthracite history shows all the stages here, in one region, from surveying and extracting to marketing and shipping. Here the names are known of those who played central roles in the enterprise, and their lives, their achievements, their sufferings, their sacrifices. They shall not be forgotten.
Inside this issue is shown the design for the newly acquired overlook area for visitors to the Huber Breaker.
Robert Janosov Appointed to Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Robert Janosov, longtime supporter of the effort to preserve the Huber Breaker, has been appointed by Governor Ed Rendell to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. At the monthly meeting of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society on January 20, 2004, Professor Janosov noted that he had just retired from teaching history at Luzerne County Community College. His Tuesday night classes there had kept him from attending the Tuesday meetings of HBPS, and he was glad to use his first free Tuesday to attend our meeting. He advised the members that he was ready to help the society draft grant proposals to submit to the state commission, since funds will be needed to fulfill the proposed design. More than a decade ago, he assisted the federal engineering study group that produced the HAER report on the Huber Breaker, and his article on that giant machine is a leading resource for students.
Knox Disaster Remembered at 45th Anniversary Events
On January 22, 2004, the Greater Pittston Historical Society presented a series of events commemorating the Knox Mine Disaster of January 22, 1959. An exhibit was opened at the Overlook Professional Center, 200 Overlook Drive, Pittston, coordinated by John Dziak. This building was formerly the Pittston Hospital, where survivors of the disaster received emergency care. Fr. Hugh McGroarty presided over a vigil honoring the victims. Then a slide show presentation was given by Dr. Robert Wolensky, co-author of The Knox Mine Disaster. Survivors and eyewitnesses of the tragic cave-in, which flooded mines along the Susquehanna, were present and participated in an open discussion.
The following Saturday afternoon, January 24, a memorial event was held at the Anthracite Heritage Museum in McDade Park, Scranton. Dr. Wolensky showed slides with commentary, and Erika Funke of WVIA showed selections from a documentary on the disaster made in 1984 by the public television station, featuring newsreel clips, news photos, and filmed interviews with Joe Stella and other survivors. In addition, Lex Romaine performed songs of his on anthracite mining, “Digging Dusty Diamonds” and a revised ballad on the Knox Disaster, incorporating new findings of Bob and Ken Wolensky and other historians of the subject. Ballads thus spread the news of mine troubles in the 19th century.
Both these events were attended by overflow crowds. Mike Stevens of Channel 16 filmed the exhibit at the Overlook Professional Center, to be presented as an “On the Road” feature of the Channel 16 news broadcast. Double-page coverage by Debby Higgins appeared in the January 21st issue of The Citizens’ Voice.
A mass in remembrance of the victims and survivors of the Knox Disaster was held on Sunday, January 25, at St. Joseph’s Church, Pittston.