Jacob “J.W.” Bradley was born on 29 June 1930 and raised in Petros, Tenn., a small Appalachian coalfield community in the Cumberland Mountains. J.W. married Emma “Kate” Hobbs in 1951.
As an adult, J.W. worked several jobs. At eighteen he got a job working as a coal miner at Rosedale, Tenn. Later J.W. became an electrician at the K-25 nuclear processing plant in nearby Oak Ridge, Tenn., which provided important direct contact with power industry practices. In the 1970s he became concerned about the practice of layer-loading coal – a method where poor quality coal was covered over by higher quality coal and all sold at the market price of the higher quality coal. Bradley claimed that TVA knowingly purchased layer-loaded coal as a source for local steam power plants (including K-25). In 1975, he traveled to Washington, D.C. to appear before a Senate oversight committee hearing on this issue.
Both J.W. and Kate wanted to give back to their community, which at the time only had a prison, and not much else. They co-founded Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) in response to the strip mining that was devastating the area around their home. Around this same time, Kate Bradley was working to secure land for a local health clinic. J.W. and Kate received encouragement and support from the Student Health Coalition. The health clinic Kate helped open remained in Petros for many years. SOCM remains in effect, renamed Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment.
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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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ETRC’s lawsuit against Davidson County Health Department
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Bob Hartmann on his follow-up visits with the Bradleys in Petros, Tenn.
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Lewis Lefkowitz on the Student Health Coalition’s key accomplishments
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Article: “Higher Appalachia Coal Taxes Asked,” from the New York Times
Stuart, Reginald. “Higher Appalachia Taxes Asked.” New York Times, June 22, 1974. Read article online. Continued
Kate Bradley on a problematic provider’s attempt to take over the clinic in Petros
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On the SHC’s provision of hope as fuel for systemic change to rural healthcare
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Formation of Mountain Peoples Health Council (MPHC)
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J.W. and Kate Bradley Papers, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill
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Findings of the 1971 land ownership study and subsequent legal action
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Highlights from J.W. Bradley’s collection of papers
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On the Bradley’s motivation to organize a community clinic in Petros, Tenn.
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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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The Bradleys move to Wartburg, Tenn.
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“I will always be grateful for the gifts that the work and the people of those summers gave to me.”
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On the Petros Health Council’s response to altercation with Dr. Chester Caster
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