Author ORCID Identifier
Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
History
Committee Chair
Jessica Wilkerson
Committee Co-Chair
Kenneth Fones-Wolf
Committee Member
Melissa Bingmann
Committee Member
William Hal Gorby
Committee Member
Brian McKnight
Abstract
Founded in 1902, the Stonega Coke & Coal Company was the largest coal operator in Virginia throughout the twentieth century, becoming even larger through its merger with the Westmoreland Coal Company in 1964. Over the course of this long history, the company used a brand of welfare capitalism aimed at keeping miners and their families satisfied enough with their living and working conditions that the workers would develop a sense of loyalty to the company. Management at SC&C termed these practices “contentment sociology.” While many coal operators began shifting away from such practices during the New Deal, SC&C maintained and even adapted them over the course of the next half-century. This dissertation examines how the Stonega Coke & Coal Company tried to coexist with the United Mine Workers of America while simultaneously adapting contentment sociology to outmaneuver the UMWA whenever management saw the opportunity.
Recommended Citation
Tomlinson, Christopher Lloyd, "Contentment and Control: The Stonega Coke & Coal Company & Pioneering Welfare Capitalism in Southwest Virginia" (2024). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12368.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12368
Included in
Labor History Commons, Other History Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons