As we approached the "Spooky Season", Historian Jake Wynn wrote a post about George Korson, and his "spooky" folklore, from the Coal Mines. "In the 1920s and 1930s, folklorist George Korson collected ghost stories and dark folklore from Pennsylvania’s Coal Region.
Old miners described eerie sounds in the mines - knockings, groans, and wails - that they believed were spirits of comrades killed underground. Legends of haunted rocks, phantom helpers, and vengeful apparitions revealed the constant presence of death in anthracite mining towns.
Korson’s work preserved these chilling stories, offering rare insight into the lives - and fears - of coal miners and their communities." [Read the rest of Wynn's article here]
I do appreciate a good seasonal read, and if I can combine that with local history, all the better! So I set out to find more about Korson, and his books.
As I attempted to write up a brief biography of Korson, I came across a note that he contributed to the book Two Penny Ballads and Four Dollar Whiskey. I recognized that title, and sure enough, a brief search through my shelves located my copy.
I flipped it open... to find that it's signed by Korson.
Dedicated "For Claire and Jesse, with affection, Sincerely Geroge Korson April 1966, Washington DC".
Serendipity.
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George Korson 1899-1967
"The scholar with coal dust in his hair"
Born in Ukraine in 1899, Korson immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 7 years old. In 1913 the Korson family, including 14 year old George, settled in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Working as a newspaper reporter, Korson, began collecting songs and ballads from miners in the Anthracite Region . He published his first book, "Songs and Ballads of the Anthracite Miners" , in 1927.
His collection of songs, stories, and ballads from the Anthracite Region drew the attention of many for their focus on industrial life, the labor movement, and immigrant traditions.
In 1938, Minstrels Of the Mines, a follow up to his first book, was published. In the preface Korson thanks, among many others, Henry Shoemaker, who was at the time State Archivist and President Of The Folk Lore Society. He mentions Dr Homer P. Rainey "who, when President of Bucknell University, gave me the opportunity to extend the scope of my research in Pennsylvania Folklore; to Bucknell's trustees for sponsoring the Folk Festival:, and to Arnaud C. Marts, President of Bucknell, whose sympathy, counsel and support have been a source of inspiration to me." Korson signs that preface, "George Korson, Lewisburg Pennsylvania". [for an interesting article about Shoemaker & Korson from Popularizing Pennsylvania, by Bronner, scroll to the bottom of the page under Read More]
A staged photograph taken by George Korson, near the Newkirk Tunnel in Schuylkill County, PA in 1946. (LOC)
In 1936 Korson became the director for the Pennsylvania Folklore Festive and the President of the Pennsylvania Folklore Society.
In 1940, for it's 50th Anniversary, Korson wrote the history of the United Mine Worker Organization for the Mine Workers Journal. ( He was in the process of rewriting the history, which was running in serial form in the Journal, at the time of his death.)
In 1941, Korson published Black Land. The first chapter is titled "assignment", tells the story of a newspaper reporter being assigned field work in Coal Country, after a reader asked about the lives of miners. "... when a mine disaster breaks, the GAZETTE prints it on the front page. But once the crisis is over, you drop the miner back into obscurity. That's all right. But while you're publishing coal stories, we readers have an awful tie visualizing the miners. if they're important enough to make headlines, don't you think they rate a little more detail? What are miners like? How do they work? .... Readers ought to have this information the more intelligently to understand your news articles and editorials on the 'coal situation." The 80 page Black Land book goes on to recount the reporters experience living with a mining family and learning first hand about their lives.
In 1955, Korson's book Pennsylvania Songs & Legends was one of 50 - one from each state - presented to First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, for her own library in their home in Gettysburg Pa.
He won a Guggenheim Award for Humanities in 1957.
He was a contributor to the book Penna. Ballads and $4 Whiskey.
On May 24th 1967, the Pottsville Republican eulogized, "George Korson, famous author and folklorist who gave hte anthracite miner his rightful place in history, died in Doctor's Hospital, Washington D.C. last night of a heart attack. He was 67." The obituary noted that Korson was a former reporter for the Republican.
At the time of his death, as his obituary notes, his wife Rae was the chief of the Folklore Division at the Library Of Congress.
In 1980, Angus Gillepsie published a biography of Korson [find a link to read it online, below]. Paul Beers, for the Evening News, wrote about the biography:
"He had the kind of mind that could remember his mother's lullabies. After he read Carl Sandburg and got to know such native minstrels as Danny Walsh of Centralia, Bill Keating of Pottsville and Jerry Byrne of Buck Run, he was hooked on folklore. Byrne, the singing mule driver, later lived in Harrisburg and at HCT stole the "Guys and Dolls" show with his singing of "More I Cannot Wish You."
Since Korson had troubles with music, he used Ruth Crawford Seeger, Pete's stepmother, to do his transcribing. It was Pete Seeger who made a modern hit out of "Down, Down, Down" that he found in one of Korson's books."
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Where To Read Korson's Books:
1927
Songs & Ballads Of The Anthracite Miner By George Korson
There is some overlap with Minstrels Of The Mine, but they appear to be separate books.
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