ETRC partnered with local environmental activists to form an organization that endures to this day. Called Save Our Cumberland Mountains, SOCM’s origins flowed directly from the work of local leaders with Coalition students. J.W. Bradley, coal miner and community leader from Petros, served as its first chairperson. This 1973 photo from the Campbell County Times documents a gathering of state legislators responding to environmental concerns at coal mines in East Tennessee, as raised by SOCM. Here, a state legislator is inspired to personally test water quality near a mine entrance. The advocacy organization enjoyed almost immediate success with their challenge to extraction taxation and environmental protection laws. SOCM survives to this day as a statewide organization devoted to social, economic, and environmental justice in Tennessee.
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Student Health Coalition Reunion Materials, 2009 and 2013, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill
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Mo & Boomer
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Interview with Neil McBride by Jessie Wilkerson, May 27 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Betty Anderson’s introduction to SOCM
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J.W. and Kate Bradley Papers, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill
Records, correspondence, and printed material related to the involvement of J. W. Bradley with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), an organization founded to support community issues arising from the increase in strip mining in Eastern Tennessee during the 1970s and… Continued
Interview with Susan Williams by Jessie Wilkerson, July 10 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Susan Williams grew up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and she received her degree in Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1979. From 1979-1989, she worked as a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM). She then went… Continued
Cindy Lutenbacher
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Betty Anderson
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Reflections on the SHC’s approach to community healthcare
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey and Maureen O’Connell consider what set the Student Health Coalition (SHC) apart from other community development efforts in the Appalachian region of East Tennessee. Boomer focuses on the Coalition’s and Save Our Cumberland Mountains’ (SOCM’s) value of… Continued
Interview with Maureen O’Connell by Jessie Wilkerson, August 11 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Maureen O’Connell grew up in St. Louis, Ill., in the 1940s. She was a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains from 1974-1992, and she served as Executive Director of the organization from 1992-2009. She begins the interview by talking… Continued
Interview with Carol Ford by Evangeline Mee, 30 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Topics discussed in this interview with Carol Ford include: born in Kalamazoo, Mich.; moved to Florida to live with aunt and uncle; treasurer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM); vocational school in Jacksboro, Tenn.; thievery in the coal company office… Continued
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey
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Interview with Linda L. Smotherman by Evangeline Mee, 31 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Maureen O’Connell’s introduction to SOCM and the SHC
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Interview with June Rostan by Jessie Wilkerson, July 6 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Interview with Mary Herr by Jessie Wilkerson, May 19 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Kate Bradley
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Bill Dow
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Interview with Connie White by Jessie Wilkerson, August 16 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Decline of coal camp healthcare and subsequent basis of need for reform
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SOCM’s and the SHC’s culture of ‘family fun’
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Maureen and Boomer on the Coalition’s Legacy
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Marie Cirillo
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Charles “Boomer” Winfrey’s origins with SOCM
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Interview with Suzanne Kurth by Joey Fink, May 11 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Suzanne Kurth is a professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Dr. Kurth was interviewed about her experiences as a professor and feminist at the University since the 1970s. Topics discussed in this interview include: gendered differences… Continued
Interview with Betty Anderson by Jessie Wilkerson, August 15 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Betty Anderson was born in Scott County, Tenn. on March 26, 1936. In the 1970s, she became involved with Save Our Cumberland Mountains, a social justice organization that addressed strip-mining and other community issues in Tennessee and Kentucky. She became… Continued
Irwin Venick
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Interview with Kate Bradley and J.W. Bradley by Evangeline Mee, 11 August 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Interview with Kate Bradley and J.W. Bradley by Evangeline Mee, 29 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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Pat Kalmans
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J.W. Bradley
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