Mining Childhood: Growing Up in Butte, Montana, 1900–1960

Mining Childhood offers a child’s-eye view of Butte, Montana, from 1900 to 1960. These years mark the rise and decline of Butte’s fame as the “Richest Hill on Earth,” when the veins of copper coursing deep beneath the city’s surface created thousands of jobs for miners and untold wealth for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Children were keen observers and active participants in the community, and childhood accounts of work, play, family, schooling, ethnicity, and neighborhood life yield fresh perspectives on Butte. Their stories remind us that children were not sheltered from the “adult” world around them; they were shapers of that world. Childhood reminiscences reveal lessons in resolve, optimism, and possibility while reminding us that growing up is serious business.