I had Coal miners in both my paternal and maternal sides of the family. My Grandfather and Great Grandfather were both Alabama Coal miners. My Grandfather retired as a Bureau of Mines - Bureau Chief for MESA (Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration) in Birmingham.
This is a cousin from a couple of generations back.
Photo caption: December 1910. "Shorpy Higginbotham, an oiler on the tipple at Bessie Mine" -- near Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.© 2011 Shorpy.com