Opening Saturday, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (DLNHC) in Easton is illuminating the often coal-dusted faces of anthracite coal miners and their families with its 2023 National Canal Museum special exhibition, “Coal Country Portraits.”
“Coal Country Portraits” celebrates the hardworking men, women, and children who helped extract the anthracite coal that powered America’s industrial growth.
Centered on George Harvan’s black-and-white photography of anthracite miners and their families, the exhibition offers a window into the gritty reality of miners’ working conditions. Harvan’s portraits are complemented by works by photographer Lewis Hine and artist Frank “WYSO” Wysochansky as well as artifacts evoking the daily life of miners.
The discovery of anthracite coal in northeastern Pennsylvania in 1791 spurred the American Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.
The core of the exhibition are photographs from the George Harvan Collection held by the DLNHC in the National Canal Museum archives. From Lansford, Pa., Harvan (1921-2002) was a nationally recognized newspaper and freelance photographer. From the mid-1950s to the early 1980s, much of his work focused on documenting coal mining operations both above and below ground.
Harvan’s black and white photographs will be juxtaposed with the colorful and more abstract works of Frank “WYSO” Wysochansky (1915-1994), an artist from Blakeslee, Pa. Both sons of miners, their creative works are clearly influenced by their intimate knowledge of mining communities.
Also on display will be photographs taken in the anthracite region by Lewis Hine in the early 1900s. Hine’s work, particularly of young boys working in the mines and coal breakers, led to the development of child labor laws in the United States.
“Coal Country Portraits” will be on display April 1 through Dec. 17.
The museum, located at 2750 Hugh Moore Park Road, Easton, opens Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., during April and May. Beginning June 7, the museum will be open Wednesday through Sunday, with rides offered on the mule-drawn Josiah White II canal boat.
For information, visit the National Canal Museum website, www.canals.org.
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