Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 07/Sam Brakefield

Overview
Sam Brakefield was a white miner from Alabama working for Gamble Mines. He began work in the mines at the age of 14 by his father to provide compensation for the family. He endured mining his whole life but was able to advance in the business to provide for his current family as well as his later wife and children. He saved up enough money to by his family a forty-six acre plot of land and built a house. However, even if he had good fortune and hard work, Brakefield was in a "cycle of feast or famine, prosperity during good times, suffering and deprivation during bad." (Wiggins et al. 2015) Many coal miners and other laborers were affected by the Great Depression. It caused many workers to be either laid off or their wages cut. The expectations that these laborers were told to uphold can only be done with hard work, but the companies would not pay these employees the amount of money they earned.

Early Life
At the early age of 14 Sam Brakefield was sent by his father to work in the coal mines. Brakefield was sent in hopes of bringing more money in for the family; also, Brakefield wanted to escape the poverty that he lived with. This beginning of work taught Brakefield how to grow up and become a strong individual. He considered this the beginning of his adulthood; from making eighty cents a day to working sunrise to sunset, Brakefield never felt that he needed or could give up his job.

Later Life
Sam Brakefield had married a woman, who was not named, and had their first five children by the time he received his first pay raise; this was to 75 dollars a month. Admittedly, Brakefield knew he would have to scarcely account for his money. He came up with a plan of only spending five dollars a month on the house. The rest went to groceries. This is different the other men in his mine; they would spend a costly amount of money on groceries plus a percentage. This was the first instance that he was using a business sense of mind. The mining industry that Brakefield was working at was owned by Tennessee Company but was sold to Pratt Mines. At this time, Brakefield’s salary was raised to 85 dollars a month; allowing him to save more money up each month. This was extreme wealth for the Brakefield family. However, that would not be their largest salary. In 1930, which was the start of the Great Depression, Gamble Mines was abandoned by Pratt Mines. This lead Brakefield to make 125 dollars a month. With this reputation in mind, Brakefield knew he had to continue mining. He got a job with Barney Mine which was an eight-mile difference than the last mine. Unfortunately, due to inadequate representation at the mines, he moved elsewhere. Although Brakefield had to move to different mines to make money, he was always able to put aside extra money. By 1932, Brakefield had saved up enough money to buy 46-acres of farmland. This is where he had a three-bedroom house with a living, dining, and washroom. This was his successful life, but he though he could make more. Brakefield then started up his farmland because of a sense he had that people would be taking coal mining jobs away from the workers. The replacements would be electricians or gas or machinery. At this time, miner who did not have a second skills were not well off. Brakefield grew to having fifteen children, only raising 13. All of which did not follow his footsteps in the mining industry, which is what he has wished for. His children went and educated themselves at different colleges, which is a very different route of life than what their parents has done. Sam Brakefield was still a strong miner even after the start up of his farm; however, he no longer does the physical labor. Instead, he was seen as a director and leader.

Mining Company Control
https://www.alabamapioneers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Coal-miners-Birmingham-Alabama-1937-Rothstein-e1416177404239.jpg The coal mining industry has been proven on multiple accounts to invade the personal lives of their employees to gain control of them. The housing that is (sometimes) provided with the coal mining jobs are often controlled by the company. The problem that derives from this is that they end up controlling all side of the individual’s life. The coal mining industry had created local stores where the employees were only allowed to shop at. This store would have a variety of necessities, from groceries and clothing to daily necessities. For many this seemed as a beneficial idea; however, these companies grew to only allowing their employees to purchase items from here. These company stores would use their employee relationship status to use their employees’ wages to pay themselves.

The mining companies would charge their employees based off the how isolated the mines were. Isolated mines tend to "face higher transport costs for store goods and would therefore be expected to charge higher store prices..." (Fishback 1986) This made it difficult for the employees to save up money and provide for their families. They had medium wages with high cost in the company stores.

Unionization During The Great Depression
The employees of these mines grew agitated with the social injustices of pay wage and company stores. This caused them to form unionizations against the companies.The unionization that were formed due to labor militancy, caused chaos within workplaces; however, it made the conditions in the workplace known. These protests being biracial was contrasting to how the time period was.These protests influenced the workers into causing backlash. The officials did not appreciate the backlash the disgruntled workers were sharing. The officials used violence to strike against the protesters.

Approximately 3-4 million individuals in different fields of labor would unionize against their companies in angst. This was a small portion of people compared to the decade prior; however, they were able to achieve new implementations to help their financial and job need. This include The National Labor Relation Act (1935). The National Labor Relation Act (1935) allowed employees of these big companies to have guarantee rights to have strikes and and organize trade unions.