John Hackworth II was 6 months old when his daddy died in a famous coal mine explosion.
Fifty years have piled atop one another in the Eastern Kentucky coalfields since that horrible day in Letcher County, which often is relayed to Hackworth by his father’s family and friends.
“I’ve heard all about the tragedy of Scotia,” said Hackworth, now a truck driver who lives near Middlesboro and nurses a weak back. “I’ve heard about how Daddy survived the first-day explosion on March 9, 1976, and then was killed the second day on March 11, when he volunteered quite vigorously to take a rescue crew down to the first explosion, only to be met by a second explosion and death.
“I’ve heard about the federal coal-mining regulations that followed. I have heard a lot of things. The question for me is, do I grieve about a man I never really met? Every day. That’s right. Every day.”
There have been larger coal-mine disasters in Kentucky than Scotia but probably none more impactful. It involved the deaths of 15 miners after the first-day explosion and 11 rescue workers and inspectors in the second explosion two days later.
The two explosions and the deaths of miners and rescue workers spurred major federal coal-mine safety legislation, but coal mining still is considered a highly dangerous occupation.
Incidents of black lung disease, scientifically known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, are increasing in the United States, with rates rising following decades of decline. The surge is particularly active and severe in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. The increase is due largely to increased exposure to highly toxic silica dust, produced when mining through sandstone to reach coal seams. The disease is incurable and progressive.
Other risks of mining include fatal explosions, mine collapses and accidents involving heavy machinery.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s coal production is on the decline. The Commonwealth produced 24.3 million short tons (a short ton is 2,000 pounds) in 2024, ranking the state seventh in the nation. Production was more than 100 million tons annually in the 1990s and about 26.6 million tons in 2021 for underground and surface mines.
As of mid-2025, Kentucky had fewer than 3,800 coal miners, a record low. The job losses were attributed to automation and other energy sources, particularly natural gas.
How the Scotia Mine Disaster Unfolded
Mining coal at Scotia began in 1962. Located about 14 miles northeast of Cumberland in Harlan County, Scotia was a subsidiary of the Blue Diamond Coal Co. The mine is a spur of Black Mountain, the highest mountain peak in Eastern Kentucky, which stretches more than 2,500 feet from its base into the sky and 4,145 feet above sea level. The mines run a long distance the opposite way.
The morning of March 9, 1976, at Scotia was cold and cloudy. Local weather reports highlighted the overall wintery, often icy conditions in the region.
At about 11:45 a.m., an explosion occurred deep within the Scotia mine that extended about 1,200 feet down a slope before reaching a 2½-mile, or approximately 13,200-foot, horizontal in-mine passage. The victims were located at the far end of the underground network.
A spark in the mine ignited methane gas. It likely came from electrical equipment. About 108 to 116 miners were working underground when hell broke loose as word spread about trapped miners.
Bill Bishop, a Kentucky journalist, had started working at The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg in September 1975. He was at the newspaper office when he got word about the problem at Scotia.
The newspaper was run by legendary journalists Tom and Pat Gish. “I did everything at the paper. We all did,” Bishop said. “I was a reporter, but you also helped produce the paper, got it ready for circulation, even got the pizza. No job was too small for anyone.”
Bishop went to the scene. He reported about miners being trapped and ventilation problems in the mine. He talked to family members. Scotia became a major story on Bishop’s work list. The New York Times checked in with him as the story unfolded.
It was shocking that another explosion occurred two days later, said Bishop. A lack of ventilation figured prominently in the incidents.
Bishop left The Mountain Eagle in January 1977 and became an author and social commentator. He now lives in Louisville.
Gerald Tate, an employee of Westmoreland Coal Co. who now lives in Gate City, Virginia, was a member of the rescue team for both Scotia explosions.
“It was traumatic, chaotic,” he said. “You never forget the dead bodies and the family members waiting for their loved ones. We spent about 15 hours underground on the first rescue clearing the dangerous gases and setting up ventilation.”
The Story of ‘Big Sack’
Geraldine McKnight-King was married to Scotia miner Roy Edward McKnight, better known as “Big Sack.”
“He was over 6-foot-7 and had all the muscles to go with it. The babies could sleep in his big hands,” Geraldine said. “And he never once raised his voice to me. He had a big heart.”
The couple had two children—Davis, 5, and Victoria, 2.
Geraldine got word the morning of March 9 about the Scotia explosion, hurried to the scene, and waited with her mother and sisters.
“Reporters started coming. I went over to a mirror in a building where I was waiting to try to look half-decent for them,” Geraldine recalled. “I told them if anyone could get out of that mine, it would be ‘Big Sack.’ ”
The young woman later had to tell her children that their father was not coming back home. Davis and Victoria now live in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Davis never was interested in mining. They plan to be with their mother at a memorial ceremony at Scotia in March.
“It will be the first time they set foot on the property where their dad got blown up,” Geraldine said.
Geraldine was one of the leading widows of Scotia who successfully lobbied Congress for safer mining regulations. She worked with the office of then-United States Sen. Wendell Ford of Owensboro and his late chief of staff, Jim King. She and King eventually married. Geraldine now lives in Gulston in Harlan County.
As Geraldine talked about Scotia in a recent phone interview, her voice was hushed, tender, except when she was asked, “Could the deaths at Scotia have been avoided?” After a long pause, she screamed, “Yes.” The hurt lingers.
Plenty of Blame to Go Around
Dr. Brian McKnight—a history professor, author and co-founder of the Center for Appalachian Studies at the University of Virginia in Wise—has produced a manuscript about Scotia. McKnight (no relation to Roy McKnight) maintains there is plenty of blame to go around for the deadly explosions.
“Federal inspectors wrote hundreds of violations while the mine actively played shell games by making things right while the inspector was standing there and then doing whatever they wanted in order to run more coal once the inspector turned his back,” McKnight wrote.
“Scotia miners knew when inspectors were coming and only paid attention to safety rules on the days the inspector was there. The company seldom trained its miners and usually provided training only during times when a miner would have to choose between being at home or sitting in safety training. It also provided minimal safety equipment that many miners did not know how to use in the first place.”
Hackworth became a coal miner. He even mined coal right above a seam where his father was killed.
“I wanted to be a Kentucky trooper for $11 an hour, but the mine was offering $18,” he said. “I took the job with more money for a short while and then went back to school and had other jobs. I have a daughter, Alyssa. She’s 18. My son, Jordan, is 28. He’s a graphic artist in Brooklyn, New York, for Pepsi-Cola.
“I never wanted [Jordan] to go into the mines. The money is not worth it. There are still a lot of lies about mine safety. The thoughts of my dad and the lack of safety at Scotia still bother me. I live in the ‘what if’ a lot. What if it all never happened?
“But it did, and we should never forget. Don’t want it to happen again.”
Commemoration Events
The old wounds from the Scotia disaster—it was not an accident—will be opened at public events in March to commemorate Scotia and its victims.
At 11:30 a.m on March 9, a memorial gathering and moment of silence will be held at the former Scotia mine at Oven’s Fork near the Clover Fork of the Cumberland River. The outdoors event will be brief because of the uncertainty of the weather. The company that now owns the property, Natural Resources Partners/ACIN, welcomes attendees to revisit the site.
Another public event will be held at 1 p.m. on March 9 at the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham. It will examine the lasting impact of the tragedy and recognize the family members and the mine rescuers who worked the explosions.
Dr. Brian McKnight will talk about his manuscript about Scotia on March 21 at 11:30 a.m. at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in downtown Frankfort. A $10 box lunch will be available. Register at history.ky.gov/events.