Granville, OH 43023

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jerry N. McDonald

May 28, 2004 (740) 321-1140 (voice)

(740) 321-1141 (fax)

(800) 233-8787 mwpubco.mwpubco.com

The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company is pleased to announce the publication of a new book by Carrie Papa. A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch: An Oral History of the Franklin and Sterling Hill Mines will be released in early June 2004.

The book documents the history of the celebrated Franklin and Sterling Hill mines in Sussex County, NJ, through the eyes of those who lived it. These two New Jersey Zinc Company mines operated until 1954 and 1986, respectively. They are acknowledged as the birthplace of the US zinc industry and are recognized worldwide for their diverse and magnificent mineral deposits. At its peak of operations in Sussex County in the first half of the 20th century, the New Jersey Zinc Company employed over 2,000 hourly workers and produced ten percent of the world's zinc. The company developed the towns of Franklin and Ogdensburg for the miners, and one of them, Franklin, became known as the "model mining town of America."

Most of the book consists of the recollections of 34 narrators, almost all who worked in or around the mines. A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch is divided into three parts: The Mines and the Miners; The Model Mining Town of America; and The Legacy and the Future. In the first two parts, the narratives explore the positive and negative aspects of life in the mines and the company towns. In these sections, the author compares the lives of New Jersey Zinc Company miners to those of other hard-rock miners in the US. The third part looks at the legacy and continuing educational impact of the mines, including the influence on the development of local museums and the Smithsonian Institution's mine exhibit that opened in 1997.

The New Jersey Historical Commission partially funded research for A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch, which contains primary source material, photographs, and other documents that have never been published before. This oral history both chronicles an important and sometimes controversial part of American mining history and gives voice to the individual miners, many of them immigrants, who made the industry possible.

According to publisher Jerry N. McDonald, "This book is intended for a general audience; however, we believe those especially interested in US history from a popular perspective will find the book enjoyable since mining history reflects much of the history of the nation." From the early Dutch explorations for minerals in New Jersey in the 1600s to the contemporary discoveries of oil in Alaska in 1957, mining has been crucial to the expansion and growth of the country. A pioneer in the mining industry of the US (with operations also in Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia), the New Jersey Zinc Company and its Sussex County mines, its workers, and communities offer an excellent vantage point from which to look at the American mining industry from the miners' points of view. Through these recollections we see the underlying culture, the intangible way of life that is part of our American mining heritage.

"We also believe both amateur and professional mineralogists, and geologists, will be attracted to this book as more than 340 different minerals, including fluorescents, were found in the Franklin and Sterling Hill mines, and some thirty species are found at no other place on Earth," concludes McDonald.

About the Author

Ms. Papa lives and writes in Bridgewater, NJ. Her interest in people and their history was cultivated during thirty years of living in foreign countries while accompanying her husband on assignments with the US Diplomatic Corps. When the Papas retired to New Jersey, Carrie became involved with the efforts of a local historical society to preserve a two-centuries-old one-room schoolhouse and establish a museum. While serving as founding director for the Old Monroe School Museum, Carrie received awards from the New Jersey Historical Society and the National Association for State and Local History for the museum's interpretive programs.

Since Carrie was raised in Franklin, inspiration for A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch was a result of her family's direct ties to the Franklin Mine where her father worked as a miner. In undertaking an oral history project on mining she discovered the satisfaction and pride that miners took in their work.

Carrie is an oral history consultant and has been involved with several oral history projects in addition to A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch. Included among these are Bicentennial Voices and Farm Women of Sussex County. Carrie's books with oral history themes include Stones and Stories: An Oral History of the Old Monroe School and The Carousel Keepers: An Oral History of American Carousels. She is currently working on a new book about antique carousels entitled Diamonds on the Midway: A Guide to America's Classic Carousels, which will be published in the McDonald and Woodward Guides to the American Landscape series.

Ms. Papa also authored a religious book, Prayers of a Young Addict. Her numerous inspirational short stories have been published in a variety of national magazines. She is a member of McDonald & Woodward's Speakers Bureau and is available for presentations illustrated with slides, oral history workshops and book signings.

A Mile Deep and Black as Pitch, is available in softcover, with 384 pages of text and 112 illustrations, and is more fully described on McDonald and Woodward’s web site at www.mwpubco.com/AMileDeep.htm. Information about this and other titles is available at www.mwpubco.com or by calling toll free 1-800-233-8787.

Founded in 1986, The McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company publishes books on cultural and natural history, including biographies and scientific subjects.