In this volume the breaker whistle is the symbol for recalling some selected highlights of the anthracite coal era, a period of about 100 years between the Avondale Mining Disaster in 1869 and the Knox Disaster in 1959. The history has been organised around two interesting observations. Each of the disasters sheds light on the ethnic migration to the anthracite region and the ethnic composition of the mine labor force. Secondly, each of the major mining disasters has been followed by the emergence of a major labor champion.