It seems hard to believe that we have been pursuing our goal for a year. We have made great strides, but the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C. has still not issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring coal miners.

We started with three committee members and have grown to seventeen. In addition, we have four Community Coordinators. We thank Mr. Eric McKeever, for not only being the chairman for this important cause, but also for sponsoring this endeavor through the web site at http://www.coalminerstamp.com

Committee members have spent countless hours contacting the twenty-six coal producing states as well as former coal mining states. This was accomplished by contacting historical societies, tourism bureaus, and elected officials.

Newspapers throughout the United States have carried Letters to the Editor, articles in support of the stamp as well as interviews with committee members.

We have received support from six Federal elected officials from the following states: Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. One hundred and four state elected officials from 24 states have also offered their support.

Our web site went online on November 30, 2000. It has grown since its beginning and includes a short cut to find the names and addressees of elected officials, how one can become a Community Coordinator, previous progress reports, a news section which highlights all the media coverage we have received as well as an online petition. This went online on November 5, 2000 and currently has over 10,000 signatures from all fifty states as well as several foreign countries. Committee members of the Coalition, Community Coordinators and other interested citizen's have collected over 5,700 signatures paper petitions. All the petitions, both online and printed, have been sent to the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington, D. C.

More than 20 genealogy and other web sites now carry links to our online petition. Some of these include: Schuylkill County Genealogy Ties, Polish Border Surnames, Hills and Hollers, and Barndoors.com.

The Pennsylvania State Legislature passed a resolution in 2000 and again in 2001 urging the Postal Service to issue a stamp. Representative Keith McCall headed this effort. The West Virginia Legislature passed a similar Resolution in April 2001 and Delegate Mike Caputo spearheaded this effort.

The UMWA has published articles in their journal and are running their own paper petition campaign through their own locals, and other unions within the AFL-CIO. Since March of this year, they have sent over 44,000 signatures to the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee.

United States Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao is a strong advocate for the stamp. As a result of her support, both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate have introduced concurrent resolutions titled "Expressing the sense of the Congress that a postage stamp should be issued to honor coal miners." Both Resolutions are in committees for approval.

There are many exciting things happening from the petition numbers growing to articles being published. Please visit our web site at http://www.coalminerstamp.com to catch up on all that is going on.

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There are currently over 9,500 online petition signatures. As of August 22nd, 3,974 paper signatures have been sent to The Post Office's Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC).

As of the end of July, The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) collected and sent to CSAC over 40,000 paper signatures from around the country. Other unions that have pledged their support are the Communications Workers of America and the American Postal Workers.

Union Area Coordinator A. J. Gianforcaro has been going to the Lackawanna Coal Mine in Scranton, PA as well as the Sleepy Hollow Golf Course and the Olyphant Genealogy Society where he has collected over 2,000 signatures. We thank A. J. for his tireless efforts.

We are pleased to announce that the following politicians have recently given their support to our efforts: U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, Tennessee who wrote a letter to CSAC, U.S. Representative Jerry Kleczka of Wisconsin, U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito, 2nd District West Virginia, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, and Representative Jim Wansacz, 114 District Pennsylvania.

On June 6, 2001 a Resolution was approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly that established June 16, 2001 as Coal Miners Memorial Day.

On June 20, 2001 a second Resolution was approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly urging the United States Post Office to issue a stamp honoring coal miners.

The following unions have sent letters to the CSAC:

• The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
• United Food and Commercial Workers International Union International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
• United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada
• International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Chicago IL
• Laborers' International Union of North America Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 737, Orlando, Florida
• Service Trade Council, Orlando, Florida
• Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union
• Utility Workers Union of America
• Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 362, Orlando, Florida

March 2001

May 2001

June 2001

July 2001

August 2001

New Online Support

New links to sites that support us were added for:

• The coal mining page-Ohio State University
• Luzerne County FolkFinders
• Coal Creek Watershed Foundation Inc.
• Northeastern Pennsylvania Photo Collection
• Gately-Fray Genealogy
• The Atlas Arkansas Area Coal Miner's Memorial.

New Community Coordinators

We are pleased to welcome Nancy Boyer of Trevorton, PA and Nancy Goldsmith of Zanesville, OH as new Community Coordinators of our COALition.

Our last progress report appeared on April 28, 2001. Since that time we have changed our name from the Coal Miners Commemorative Postage Stamp Committee to Coalition for a Coal Miners' Commemorative Postage Stamp. This will distinguish us from the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.

We have grown once again. We welcome Joe Colombara from Illinois and Jim Skinner from California. They are our 16th and 17th members. We also have two Community Coordinators.

Jim Skinner is our web master. He has spent much time creating the stamp web site as well as the Yahoo club page. He even scans articles into a format so that all coalition members can read it on their computers. We thank Jim for his hard work, time and dedication.

Our web site continues to grow thanks to the efforts of Jim. We have a section called Faces of Mining. Here you can view pictures of monuments and coal companies. There is also a section called Contact Your Legislators where by following the directions you can contact your local and Federal Representatives throughout the United States.

Don Sherwood, United States Representative of the 10th District of Pennsylvania has pledged his support and will be sending a letter of support to the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.

Coalition member Diane Rooney has posted or reposted information about our petition on 13 genealogy boards dealing with Lithuania or coal mining. She has also got a link established at the Schuykill County Genealogy Ties.

Coalition member Rhea Malone has a friend living in Texas. Eileen Tidwell has a business web site and has added a page link for the miners' stamp. You can view this link at http://barndoors.com/coal_miner_stamp_proposal.htm

Many coalition members have submitted articles or have been interviewed for various publications. They include the following: Eric McKeever, John Vengein, Diane Rooney, Rhea Malone, Tom Dempsey, AJ Gianforcaro and Carol McNulty. Please visit our web site at http://www.coalminerstamp.com and check out the NEWS section to see where they have been featured.

Carol McNulty and her class have been very busy the past few months. This is just a highlight of some of the activities they have been involved with. The students have written letters to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and President George W. Bush. The students received letters from Governor Ridge wishing them luck with the stamp project.

The 6th grade class went to Washington D.C. in May on a class trip. They met with Congressman Paul Kanjorski and Ed Williams. They gave him a bag filled with letters the students wrote, an album filled with articles that have been published about the stamp and mining stories. Another album contained pictures of the project of "Old King Coal". While in Washington, several parents were told that the stamp has a really good chance of being issued. A bag was also sent to Dr. Noelke's and the Stamp Committee in Washington, D.C.

Doug Gibson from UMWA inquired about the latest efforts. He wants to do an article for the UMWA Journal. Further information about this will appear in the next progress report.

The students have obtained signatures on petitions from many groups. They include students at Penn State, Indiana University and the Nanticoke School District. Several Cub Scouts Troops and their parents have signed petitions.

Our online petition now has over 8,500 signatures online. We have also had over 9,000 from people who have signed paper petitions. We thank Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) and Diva Theatre for their help and participation in this endeavor. Coalition member John Vengien's daughter teaches in New York. She was instrumental in obtaining signatures from Union-Endicott High School and Jennie F. Snapp Middle School where she is a teacher. John has sent these signatures onto Washington D.C.

You can now download either a 7 or 20 line paper petitions from the Print a Petition link on our web site.

We have several new photos in our Yahoo club page. You can view these at---http:// clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/coalminerstamp Please remember that you must be a member of the Yahoo club to view these photos.

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The members of Coalition for a Coal Miners' Commemorative Postage Stamp

We are members of the Coal Miners' Commemorative Postage Stamp Committee. The first progress report appeared on February 25, 2001 and since that time many exciting things have happened.

We now number 14 members and welcomed two area coordinators; Karol Weaver, who is originally from Strong near Mt. Carmel and Angelo J. Gianforcaro, who is from Archbald, PA. We would like to welcome them aboard and thank them for their help in this endeavor.

The committee would like to have volunteer coordinators throughout the United States. These people would play a large part by contacting their state and federal officials in the state they live in. To find out more on how you can become a volunteer coordinator, please visit our web site at http://www.coalminerstamp.com

Iowa, a state with a history of coal mining, has state elected officials who are supporting this cause. You can view the names of all the supporters by visiting the web site above and going to the supporter section.

State Governors and Federal Senators have been contacted for the remaining 24 non coal producing states. The Federal Representatives will be contacted shortly.

A Letter to the Editor was composed and sent to newspapers in the 26 coal producing states. There are still a few states that have not been contacted but will be soon.

We have had articles published in newspapers and newsletters. You can see where other articles have appeared by going to the web site listed above and going to the NEWS section.

Our club page at Yahoo--- http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/coalminerstamp has a very impressive photo album. Here you can view pictures of memorials and old collieries. You can see who we are by viewing our pictures in the Rogues' Gallery and the Honorary Rogue's Gallery. AJ Gianforcaro has two photos, one with him and a first Aid Team and another of him as a miner. You must be a member of the Yahoo club to view these photos.

The West Virginia legislature has recently passed a resolution showing their support for this endeavor. You can read this resolution by going to our web page and clicking on the NEWS section.

The petition has to be our biggest endeavor. As of this date, we now total 7,549 signatures on the online petition. There is also a printable petition that can be found on the web site. We urge you to print this and pass it around to as many people as you can.

Many genealogical sites and other web sites have posted information about our petition. Diane Rooney has contacted the Lithuanian club. These sites have shown positive results regarding the online petition.

Through a monetary contribution we have been able to purchase eye-catching stick on labels. The committee members are using these on their every day mail to gain attention for this cause.

As one can see, we have been very busy these last few months. We thank everyone for his or her continued support of this worthwhile endeavor. Please keep an eye on future progress reports for additional developments.

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The members of the Coal Miners' Commemorative Stamp Committee.

We are members of the Coal Miner’s Commemorative Postage Stamp Committee.

We are working toward a goal of seeing a postage stamp passed to honor coal miners. This progress report will show what we have accomplished so far and will appear on a regular basis.

Several attempts have been made in the past to have a postage stamp issued but were unsuccessful. John Vengien, from Plymouth, Pennsylvania and a member of our committee started his efforts in 1986 and is considered a pioneer in this endeavor. His true determination and the willingness to not give up is an inspiration to all of us. We will not stop pursuing our goal until we see people using the stamp.

Federal and State political officials in 26 coal producing states have been contacted by e-mail letters asking for their support. In addition, a number of Federal officials in the remaining 24 states have also been contacted. So far, we have had responses from approximately 80 of these people who represent both parties. The following is a list of the states we have had contact with: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Newspapers, genealogy societies, tourism bureaus, libraries, state historical societies, and coal companies have also been contacted and several have offered their support. We are most grateful for the support of the United Mine Workers of America and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Both of these are national supporters. Our biggest endeavor perhaps is our on-line petition which can be found on this web site. (www.minecountry.com)

The numbers grow every day and right now we have over 5,000 signatures. These people represent all walks of life and include religious, military, political officials and health care practitioners. Many signing wish to honor loved ones who were coal miners and many of these stories are very moving and will tug at anyone’s heartstrings. Eric McKeever, Chairman of the Coal Miner’s Commemorative Postage Stamp Committee has made copies of thousands of signatures from the petition and has sent them to the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C.

The 4th grade students of the Mackin Elementary School in Wilkes Barre, PA are proving that small people can make a difference. Under the direction of their teacher, Mrs. Carol McNulty they have asked their family and friends to sign a paper petition. They have accumulated over 5,000 paper signatures. These students are proud of their heritage and are very anxious to see this postage stamp come into being.

Thank you for the support you have shown. We will keep you updated about our progress and ask for your continued support.

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