In those remote places, facilities for family and group life often depended on the coal operators and reflected the standards they established. There was wide variation. Educational facilities, which by law should have been provided by the states, often were supplemented by contributions from coal companies. In some cases the funds came from a special school tax deducted from the miners' wages. In other cases, company-controlled communities were so near established towns that when adequate transportation was available, the children of the mine workers who could afford to went there.
In company-owned communities in the bituminous coalfields, frequently all the land on which a town was built was owned or leased by the company that employed the miners. "Often the school-house is upon this land, and the company assists in the selection of a teacher and sometimes pays part of his salary." The situation was different in the anthracite region; it was well settled and there were always towns nearby. But while the coal companies might provide facilities, supply books, and subsidize teachers' salaries, they also had the power to close the schools to the children. If the miners went on strike, for example, the company could evict families from their company-owned homes and close company-owned schools, as well as other facilities.
However, the coal companies sometimes played a role in improving conditions. For instance, at the turn of the century, West Virginia coal companies ushered in what some today call "the Golden Age of Negro education in West Virginia." Seeing a need to have a more literate work force to reduce accidents, increase productivity, and stabilize a mobile work force, one authority claims that the coal companies helped ensure passage of progressive educational legislation that required teachers' pay to be based on qualifications, not color.
