October 1935. A street scene in the mining town of Omar, West Virginia. 35mm negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

May 1939. The coal company town of Kempton, West Virginia. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration.

September 1942. An early snow at the Benbow Mill of the Metal Reserves chromite development in Stillwater County, Montana. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information.

June 1941. Sawmill and smokestack at the Greensboro Lumber Co. in Greensboro, Georgia. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano.

"Mine Rescuer" circa 1915. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection.

Extracted sulfur stacked in a "vat" 60 feet tall at Freeport Sulphur Co. in Hoskins Mound, Texas. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon.

May 1943. Sixty-foot-tall sulfur vat at the Freeport Sulphur Co. in Hoskins Mound, Texas. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon.

May 1943. "Nearly exhausted sulfur vat from which railroad cars are loaded. Freeport Sulphur Company at Hoskins Mound, Texas." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Vachon, Office of War Information.

"Clean Up Day" at the Deadwood Terra Gold Stamp Mill near Terraville in the Dakota Territory. Ore fed into the mill is stamped, or crushed, to prepare it for the chemical extraction of gold. Photograph by John C.H. Grabill. View full size.

January 1911. Boys working in the #9 breaker of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. mine at Hughestown Borough near Pittston, Pennsylvania. In this group are Sam Belloma of Pine Street and Angelo Ross of 142 Panama Street. View full size.

January 1911. Breaker boys in #9 Breaker, Pennsylvania Coal Company mine at Hughestown Borough near Pittston. Smallest boy is Angelo Ross, 142 Panama Street, Hughestown Borough. View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.

January 1911. "First Aid to the Injured" man with Draeger Oxygen Helmet. Avondale Shaft, D.L. & W. [Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad] Colliery near Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. View full size. Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine.

January 1911. Shaft #6, Pennsylvania Coal Co. mine at South Pittston. "At the close of the day. Waiting for the cage to go up. Small boy in front is Joe Pume, a Nipper, 163 Pine St." View full size. Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.

October 1908. Digging coal by machinery at the Brown Mine in West Virginia. Note open-flame headlamps. View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.

September 1908. Young mule drivers and trapper boy at the Brown Mine near Brown, West Virginia. Underground from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. View full size.