Improving the Social and Working Conditions of Miners 1920-1946: The Contribution of the Miners' Welfare Fund

A lack of attention to the Miners' Welfare Fund is a gap in the history of the coal industry. The unique statutory requirement upon the industry in 1920, which was originally a five-year experiment, was to provide financial resources for social welfare, education and research purposes. The application of M.W.F. resources to enhance the working conditions of mineworkers and the social environment in mining communities was an important aspect of the industry, which requires a more detailed examination in order to reconfigure the historiography of the coal industry. The contribution of the M.W.F. deserves this detailed attention as it positively affected the lives of so many mining families.