A new pop-up exhibit is now in the lobby of the Explore Crawford County and Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce office. The exhibit by Miners Hall Museum showcases items an immigrant traveling from Europe would have brought to the New World.
It’s easy to forget the heritage of Southeast Kansas is not like the rest of the state. The number of immigrant miners who brought their families to the coalbed here in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s was not seen elsewhere. In 1920, the two counties impacted the most by the coal industry boom, Cherokee and Crawford counties, combined for a population of more than 95,000. Crawford had the third highest population that year.
And, today, generations later, it’s difficult to comprehend the courage it took to pack up the bare essentials and your most prized possessions, and travel across the globe to set roots in a foreign land.
The office Explore Crawford County and the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce is located at 117 West 4th Street, Pittsburg, Kansas, 66762.
###
You must be logged in to post a comment.