Intro
The Book of the Dead
An Archive of Hawk's Nest Tunnel Workers
Intro
The Book of the Dead
An Archive of Hawk's Nest Tunnel Workers
Beginning in June of 1930, three thousand men dug a three-mile hole through a sandstone mountain near the town of Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, for the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation—The Hawk's Nest Tunnel. The company was building an electro-metallurgical plant nearby, which needed a large supply of power and silica. So they designed a dam to divert a column of the New River underground and down a gradually sloping tunnel to electrical generators; the ground-up silica harvested during excavation would be fed into the furnace at Alloy.
More than three quarters of the workers were migratory blacks from the South who lived in temporary work camps. Some of them developed silicosis in a matter of weeks, while others wheezed with the disease for decades. When stricken, the migrant workers either fled West Virginia for wherever home was, or they were buried as paupers in mass graves in the fields and woods around Fayette County. The death toll was an estimated, though impossible to confirm, 764 persons, making it the worst industrial disaster in United States history. More info from e-WV.
Names & Death Certificates
Names & Death Certificates
Worker Names & Death Certificates
A fraction of the Hawk’s Nest dead, gleaned from Union Carbide reports and vital records. In general, this list does not include those who died after their employment ended, or outside of West Virginia. The list also includes several "camp followers," including three women. Not all the listed persons died of silicosis; some died of other causes like rock falls or other illness. Some silicosis victims' deaths were likely misattributed by doctors to "pneumonia" or a "heart attack." See the Union Carbide reports for more details. Contact us to add a name to the archive.
Sources:
"Lists of Rinehart & Dennis Company Employees Who Died in West Virginia, April 1, 1930 – December 31, 1935," from Accident and mortality report on Rinehart and Dennis employees and miscellaneous data on silicosis, by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation; March 10, 1936.
"List of Deceased Persons for Whom White and Cravens or H.C. White Were Undertakers," from Accident and mortality report on Rinehart and Dennis employees and miscellaneous data on silicosis, by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation; March 10, 1936.
Death certificates compiled by Rita Hanshaw and Tammy Rose from the West Virginia Vital Records Research Project.
DOWNLOAD .CSV / EXCEL
Add a Name to the Archive
NAME (AGE / RACE / PLACE OF BURIAL)
Individual names are linked to PDF scans of death certificates when available.
Abraham, Eugene (21 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Adams, Winfred (B / Clairmont, NC)
Alexander, James (32 / B / Logan, WV)
Allison, Robert (39 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Andrews, Sidney (22 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Bales, Alonzo (24 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Barrat/Barrett, Nathan (45 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Blakley, Thomas (B / Diamond, WV)
Blankenship, Ballard (30 / W / Lindsey, WV)
Blankenship, Oran Mearl (41 / W / Line Creek, WV)
Bostic, Marshall (22 / W / Elk View, WV)
Bostic, (Mooney) Willie (16 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Bostic, Ray Ernest (28 / W / Elk View, WV)
Brown, James (26 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Brown, Parker (38 / B / Potters Field, Fayetteville, WV)
Brown, Walter Burley (21 / W / Syria, VA)
Browning, Fred (30 / B / Summersville, WV)
Burdette, Rufus (51 / W / Poe, WV)
Caldwell, Henry (30 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Cashion, Richard Wesley (48 / W / Ansted, WV)
Chambers, Benny (23 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Chatfield, Fred (30 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Childers, Lewis B. (18 / W / Dixie, WV)
Clark, Nelson (30 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Cole, Lonnie C. (34 / W / Jumping Branch, WV)
Cooper, Mack (35 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Cox, Milton (32 / B / County Poor Farm)
Daniel, A. L. (40 / W / Atlanta, GA)
Daugherty, George (35 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Devine, Henry (61 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Dickinson, Frans (42 / W / Mt. Carbon, WV)
Dixon, James (46 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Elders, Sylvia (35 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Euill, Gaston (36 / B / Amherst, VA)
Evans, H. C. (26 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Flack, Dewey (21 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
German, Ben (38 / B / Beckley, WV)
Goines, Marvin (24 / B / Not Noted)
Green, Clemon (28 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Haines, D. W. (34 / W / Sunset Memorial Park, Charleston, WV)
Hancock, Bennie H. (47 / B / Hunter Cemetery, WV)
Harvey, Calvin (38 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Hendrick, Henry (Harry) (42 / W / Hendrick, WV)
Hicks, James (42 / B / Union, SC)
Hockens/Hawkins, Richard (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Hunt, Thomas (45 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Inabinet, (S) Walter (27 / W / St. Mathews, SC)
Jackson, Whirley (24 / B / Not Noted)
Jackson, Wm. (40 / B / Summersville, WV)
Johnson, Golden Allen (59 / W / Gamoca, WV)
Johnson, John (57 / B / Boomer, WV)
Johnson, Luther (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Johnson, Raymond (38 / W / On Gauley, WV)
Johnson, Robert (30 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Johnson, Walter (42 / B / Prince, WV)
Johnson, William (42 / B / Montgomery, WV)
Jones, Charley 52 / W / Gamoca, WV)
Jones, Charlie (52 / B / Glen Ferris, WV)
Jones, Cecil L. (23 / W / Gamoca, WV)
Jones, Lindsey (36 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Jones, Owen (22 / W / Vanetta, WV)
Jones, Robert (37 / B / Not Noted)
Jones, Shirley (18 / W / Gamoca, WV)
Kincaid, Walter (59 / W / Terry Cemetery, Victor, WV)
Kube, A. L. (52 / W / Roadsville, VA)
Lane, Henry (26 / B / Knoxville, TN)
Lee, Sydney (33 / B / Denmar, WV)
Littlejohn, Mary (40 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Lyles, Ernest (23 / B / Diamond, WV)
McCalphin (McCalton), John (30 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
McCrorey, George (31 / B / Chester, SC)
McDaniel, Clara (23 / B / Glen Ferris, WV)
McDaniel, Robert (50 / B / Spring Hill, WV)
McGuire, George W. (Cane Branch, WV)
McKeever, Grover (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
McKission, James (30 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Means, Charles (21 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Miller, J. H. (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Mitchell, Fred (40 / B / Rock Hill, SC)
Monagan, John (35 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Moore, James (47 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Morgan, Ellwood (42 / B / Clanton, AL)
Morrison, John (24 / B / Summerlee, WV)
Moses, Lona (25 / B / Lancaster, SC)
Murphy, Robert (46 / B / Camden, SC)
Murphy, Sam (Sim) (24 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Nelson, Alex. (44 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Nelson, George (44 / B / Fayetteville, WV)
Patterson, Charlie (25 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Peyton, Arthur (W)
Pickett, Willie T. (45 / B / County Poor Farm)
Potts, Jesse (73 / B / Diamond, WV)
Powell, Will (36 / B / Mt. Holly, SC)
Reed, Ernest (23 / B / Lancaster, SC)
Reed, W. M. (55 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Robinson, George (51 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Robinson, Will (60 / B / Bayes Cemetery, Fayetteville, WV)
Robinson, Willie (29 / B / Summerlee, WV)
Rollins, George (Cane Branch, WV)
Sandusky, Albert (49 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Saunders, Walter (40 / B / Diamond, WV)
Scott, Joe (45 / B / Knoxville, TN)
Shepherd, Howard (21 / W / Gamoca, WV)
Sherrod, John (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Singleton, Roosevelt (31 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Skinner, C. M. (47 / W / Thurmond, WV)
Slaughter, Hudson (25 / B / Pierce’s Cemetery, Fayetteville, WV)
Sloan, Mat (31 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Smith, Bee (29 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Smith, Frank (45 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Smith, H. L. (60 / W / Mt. Holly, NC)
Smith, John (28 / B / High Springs, FL)
Smoke, Emanuel (50 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Stokes, Willis (40 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Street, Lewis Walter (46 / W / Swiss, WV)
Stringer, Ralph (33 / W / Cleveland, OH)
Strong, John (37 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Sykes, Walter P. (24 / W / Peachland, NC)
Thompson, Enoch (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Ward, John (26 / B / Kings Mt., NC)
Ward, Sam (30 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Watkins, Sam (38 / B / Vanetta, WV)
Watts, W. A. (42 / W / Not Noted)
White, James (B / Diamond, WV)
Williams, Joe (30 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Williams, Willie (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Wilson, James (32 / B / Summerlee, WV)
Woodard, Calvin (B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Woods, Frank (23 / B / White Farm, Summersville, WV)
Woodward, Will (40 / B / Lewis Cemetery, Summersville, WV)
Yarber, George (18 / W / Beckwith, WV)
Add a Name to the Archive
Union Carbide Reports
Union Carbide Reports
Union Carbide Reports
Full Report
"Accident and Mortality Data on Rinehart and Dennis Company Employees and Miscellaneous Data on Silicosis"
by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation
March 10, 1936.
A 111-page data collection authored by Union Carbide laying out the case for their innocence. Includes valuable information on the burials of employees who died on the job, the rolls of undertaker H. C. White, and transcriptions of news reels reporting on silicosis. See The Hawk's Nest Incident by Martin Cherniack (Yale, 1989) for an analysis and refutation of the company's statistical arguments presented here.
Summary Report
"Memorandum on Silicosis Allegations"
by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation
ca. 1936
A 53-page narrative summary report of Union Carbide's argument, including sections like "Availability of Respirators," "Silicosis Racket," and "Death Expectancy of Employees."
Comments on Hearings
"Comment on Hearings Before Subcommittee of the Committee on Labor, House of Representatives, 74th Congress, Second Session, on H. J. RES. 449"
by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation
ca. 1936
Union Carbide's indexed response to the House Labor Committee's 10-day hearing on Hawk's Nest in January of 1936, defending against most of the claims made by victims and witnesses, including Charles and Emma Jones, Arthur Peyton, George Robinson, and others. Neither the company nor its contractor, Rinehart & Dennis, appeared before the committee. The latter contributed a written response, which can be found at the end of this document.
Congressional Testimony
Congressional Testimony
Congressional Testimony, 1936
In January and February of 1936, a subcommittee of the House Committee of Labor took up an investigation into Hawk’s Nest Tunnel and silicosis, interviewing workers and other witnesses. This is a critical primary source in understanding what took place during the construction of the tunnel and its aftermath.
Transcript of “An Investigation Relating to Health Conditions of Workers Employed in the Construction and Maintenance of Public Utilities," performed by a subcommittee of the House Committee of Labor (74th congress, 2nd session). January/February, 1936. Download PDF.
Witnesses in the hearing include:
Philippa Allen (social worker)
Mrs. Charles Jones (wife of sick tunnel worker)
Charles Jones (sick tunnel worker)
Hiram Skaggs (sick tunnel worker)
Arthur Peyton (tunnel engineer, whistleblower)
George Robinson (sick tunnel worker - note that his name is misspelled as “George Robison” in transcript)
Gilbert Love (reporter for Pittsburgh Press)
William J. Finke (reporter for People’s Press)
Hon. Rush Dew Holt (U.S. Senator from WV)
Hon. John W. Finch (Director of Bureau of Mines)
James M. Mason (Attorney)
Surgeon R. R. Sayers (U.S. Public Health Service)
William P. Yant (U.S. Bureau of Mines)
Download the summary report of the subcommittee of the Committee on Labor that investigated the silicosis situation.
The Essay
The Essay
The Essay
"THE BOOK OF THE DEAD"
by Catherine V. Moore
photos by lisa elmaleh
Find it in the Fall 2016 issue of The Oxford American magazine, or read it for free ONLINE.
A long-form narrative nonfiction essay that explores the Hawk's Nest Tunnel Disaster through a sequence of poems by Muriel Rukeyser called "The Book of the Dead," included in her groundbreaking 1938 collection of documentary poems of witness, U.S. 1.
Other Sources
Other Sources
Other Sources
Books & Articles
Cherniack, Martin, The Hawk's Nest Incident: America`s Worst Industrial Disaster, Yale University Press, 1984.
D’Agostino, Ryan, "America’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster And the Cover-Up That Erased It from History," Popular Mechanics, Oct. 17, 2025
Goffeney, Martin, “Hawk’s Nest: The Deadliest Industrial Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of,” heinonline.org, Jan. 26, 2024.
Mellon, Steve, “At Hawk’s Nest, hundreds of sickened workers died, then were hidden and forgotten; it wasn’t an accident,” unionprogress.com, 2025.
Rukeyser, Muriel, The Book of the Dead, West Virginia University Press, 2018.
Spangler, Patricia, The Hawks Nest Tunnel: An Unabridged History, 2008.
Spencer, Howard W., “The Historic & Cultural Importance of the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster,” assp.org, 2023.
Thompson, Raymond, Appalachian Ghost: A Photographic Reimagining, University Press of Kentucky, 2024.
Podcasts
“How America’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster Was Almost Erased,” Wondery’s Lawless Planet, Episode 30, February 2026
“The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster,” Creepalachia, January 2026