Lark Hayes shares her history with the East Tennessee Research Corporation (ETRC), highlighting responsibilities such as putting together a rights and benefits handbook, southern coal property title research, and overloaded coal truck fact-finding (for lawsuits) alongside Charles “Boomer” Winfrey and Maureen O’Connell. Lark also mentions learning from Bill Corr’s health litigation practice with United Health …
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey delineates the historical account of Coal Creek, Tennessee’s Coal Creek War (the battle atop Militia Hill at Fort Anderson) to Maureen O’Connell, Tom John, and Biff Hollingsworth. He explains the conflict’s origins within a larger context of complex coal mining history in the region and discusses its profound impact on the convict …
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey on the Coal Creek War of 1892-1893 Read More »
Maureen O’Connell and Charles “Boomer” Winfrey reflect on the value of having fun, highlighting the Student Health Coalition (SHC) as an especially stimulating group of people to be around. Their commitment to collective recreation ultimately facilitated a stronger sense of togetherness and positively impacted their work in both community organizing and healthcare. Recorded on May …
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey and Maureen O’Connell ruminate on work left to be done in the eastern Tennessee region of Appalachia. Their focus pertains mostly to the ongoing need for augmented healthcare resources, drug education and reform, and meeting the needs of those left in the coverage cracks as a repercussion of Tennessee’s decision not to …
Maureen O’Connell and Charles “Boomer” Winfrey reflect on Bill Dow‘s character and personal philosophy about community organizing. They describe him as an other-oriented person driven by creative, actionable service and mutually respectful relationships best illustrated by his perception of and interaction with the locals as his heroes. Recorded on May 20, 2013. Full footage …
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey and Maureen O’Connell discuss the local healthcare setting upon Save Our Cumberland Mountain’s (SOCM) and the Student Health Coalition’s (SHC) early stages of community organizing in East Tennessee. Maureen details several local factors which established a major basis of need for healthcare reform. Recorded on May 20, 2013. Full footage of …
Decline of coal camp healthcare and subsequent basis of need for reform Read More »
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 community empowerment (by way of such activities like education and legislation). Maureen emphasizes the mutual …
Reflections on the SHC’s approach to community healthcare Read More »
Maureen traces the development of her involvement with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) and the Student Health Coalition (SHC), beginning with her 1969 introduction to Marie Cirillo and research presence in Clairfield, Tenn. Recorded on May 20th, 2013. Full footage of interview with Maureen O’Connell and Charles “Boomer” Winfrey.
Maureen O’Connell grew up in St. Louis, Ill., in the 1940s. She was a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) from 1974-1992, and she served as Executive Director of the organization from 1992-2009. She begins the interview by talking about her childhood in East St. Louis, Ill.; her father’s involvement in the labor …
Files transferred from the William W. Dow Papers (#05612) that document two Student Health Coalition reunions. One attended by Dow in 2009, and another hosted in Nashville in 2013 after Dow’s death in 2012. Materials include correspondence between former coalition members including Rick Davidson, Lark Hayes, Margaret Ecker, Mary Ruth Martin, Tom John, John Davis, …
