SCRANTON — To kick off Anthracite Mining Heritage Month, the Lackawanna Historical Society will host a program by local historian Charles Kumpas entitled, “A Day in the Life of an Anthracite Miner: The Remarkable Coalmining Artwork of Remo Trieste Russo.” The program will be held at 2 p.m. Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. at the society’s headquarters, the Catlin House, 232 Monroe Avenue.

Kumpas, a Clarks Summit resident, will provide a “guided tour” of the working life of an anthracite miner using a series of 12 paintings done by Russo. In the mid-1940s, Russo worked for six weeks as a dues-paying union mine laborer and made recollection drawings each night of scenes from the mines. In 1948, he completed this series of paintings, taking the viewer from outside the colliery to the working coal face, the bath house, and the eventual rise back to the surface. For his presentation, Kumpas will use each scene to help narrate life inside a coal mine. Kumpas is a previous member of the board of the Anthracite Heritage Museum and former editor of The Miner’s Lamp. Now retired, he spends his time researching mining documents and anthracite artifacts.

This program is part of a month-long celebration of Anthracite Heritage, and the kick off for the 250th anniversary of anthracite, marking the first use of anthracite by blacksmith Obadiah Gore and the beginning of the great Age of Anthracite.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information contact the Lackawanna Historical Society at 570-344-3841 or email lackawannahistory@gmail.com.

“Loaded Cars Up” will be on display during “A Day in the Life of an Anthracite Miner: The Remarkable Coalmining Artwork of Remo Trieste Russo at the Catlin House Jan. 7.
https://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_ABJ-Miner.jpg.optimal.jpg“Loaded Cars Up” will be on display during “A Day in the Life of an Anthracite Miner: The Remarkable Coalmining Artwork of Remo Trieste Russo at the Catlin House Jan. 7. Submitted photo