Chapter 16 Quiz: Company Towns — Living Under Corporate Rule

Instructions: Select the best answer for each question. Some questions require you to apply concepts from the chapter rather than recall specific facts.

1. The term "total institution," as applied to company towns, refers to:

a) A town in which all buildings are owned by a single institution b) A system in which a single authority controls nearly all aspects of residents' daily lives c) A community that provides total employment to all residents d) An institution that educates workers in all aspects of their jobs

2. Which of the following best explains why coal companies built entire towns rather than simply opening mines?

a) Companies wanted to provide the best possible living conditions for their workers b) Federal law required coal companies to provide housing for employees c) The remote geography of Appalachian hollows meant no existing infrastructure for housing, commerce, or services existed near mine sites d) Labor unions demanded company-built housing as a condition of employment

3. Scrip was:

a) A type of coal mining tool used to measure tonnage b) A private currency issued by a coal company, valid only at the company's own store c) A legal document similar to a broad form deed d) A government-issued voucher for purchasing mining supplies

4. The "scrip capture rate" referred to by coal companies measured:

a) The percentage of miners who used scrip rather than cash b) The percentage of scrip that was converted to cash at a discount c) The percentage of wages paid that returned to the company through company store purchases d) The percentage of miners who were in debt to the company store

5. Company store prices were typically:

a) The same as prices at independent merchants b) Lower than prices at independent merchants, as a benefit to workers c) 10 to 40 percent higher than prices at independent merchants d) Set by government regulators to ensure fairness

6. The spatial arrangement of housing in a coal camp typically reflected:

a) Random assignment based on order of arrival b) The personal preferences of individual miners c) A hierarchy based on job status, race, and ethnicity d) Equal distribution of housing quality across all residents

7. Coal operators deliberately recruited workers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds in part because:

a) Federal law required diverse hiring in the mining industry b) Diverse workforces were more productive than homogeneous ones c) Racial and ethnic divisions made collective labor organizing more difficult d) Immigrant workers had specialized mining skills unavailable among American workers

8. The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency primarily served coal operators by:

a) Investigating mine safety violations b) Providing mine guards who suppressed union activity and enforced corporate authority in company towns c) Conducting background checks on prospective miners d) Protecting miners from dangerous working conditions

9. When a miner in a company town was identified as a union sympathizer, the most common company response was:

a) A reduction in wages b) Reassignment to a different mine c) Eviction from the company house and potential blacklisting d) A formal hearing before a neutral arbitrator

10. Lynch, Kentucky, was historically significant because:

a) It was the first company town built in Appalachia b) It was one of the largest company-owned coal towns in the world, built by U.S. Steel, with a majority-Black workforce c) It was the only company town that allowed union organizing d) It was the site of the first successful miners' strike in Appalachian history

11. The chapter describes the memory of company town life as characterized by:

a) Uniform nostalgia among all former residents b) Universal condemnation of the company system c) A complex tension between genuine nostalgia for community and recognition of corporate exploitation d) Complete indifference — most former residents have no strong feelings about their experience

12. Blacklisting in the coalfields meant that:

a) A miner's name was published in the local newspaper as a union member b) Coal operators shared lists of "troublemaker" miners, preventing them from being hired at any mine in the region c) A miner was required to work extra shifts as punishment d) A miner was transferred to the most dangerous section of the mine

13. The company doctor system's primary structural problem was:

a) Company doctors were less qualified than other physicians b) Miners had to pay for the doctor whether they used the service or not c) The doctor was employed by the company, creating a conflict of interest when diagnosing occupational injuries or diseases d) There was only one doctor per county

14. A miner in a typical company town who wanted to shop at an independent store faced which of the following obstacles? (Select all that apply.)

a) Scrip could not be used at independent stores b) Converting scrip to cash required accepting a 10–30 percent discount c) The nearest independent store might be miles away over difficult terrain d) The company might retaliate against miners who shopped outside the company store e) All of the above

15. The phrase "owed my soul to the company store" from Merle Travis's "Sixteen Tons" refers to:

a) A religious obligation to support the company's charitable work b) A miner's literal debt to the company store when scrip advances exceeded net earnings c) The emotional attachment miners felt to the store where they had shopped for years d) A legal requirement that miners purchase all goods from the company

16. Women in company towns contributed to the household economy primarily by:

a) Working in the mines alongside their husbands b) Managing the household, tending gardens, taking in boarders, and maintaining the social networks that held communities together c) Operating independent businesses within the company town d) Serving as mine guards and company store clerks

17. The chapter argues that "corporate benevolence is not the same as self-determination." This statement means:

a) Companies should never provide services to workers b) Even high-quality services provided by a company cannot substitute for a community's ability to govern itself and control its own future c) Self-determination always produces better outcomes than corporate provision d) Corporations are inherently incapable of benevolent actions

18. Which of the following accurately describes the coal camp baseball tradition?

a) Teams were always racially segregated, reflecting the broader social order of the camp b) Baseball was banned by most companies because it distracted miners from work c) Baseball was a widespread passion in the coalfields, sometimes featuring integrated teams that anticipated the desegregation of professional baseball d) Baseball was played exclusively by supervisory staff and their families

19. The United States Coal Commission's 1923 study found that company store prices were:

a) Consistently lower than independent store prices b) An average of 10 to 24 percent higher than independent store prices c) Exactly the same as independent store prices d) Regulated by the federal government to prevent overcharging

20. The decline of Lynch, Kentucky, from a town of 10,000 to a community of fewer than 700 illustrates which broader pattern?

a) The natural lifecycle of all American small towns b) The vulnerability of communities built around a single industry controlled by outside interests — when the company's needs changed, the community was expendable c) The failure of government regulation to protect mining communities d) The preference of residents for urban living over small-town life

Answer Key

1. b — A total institution is defined by single-authority control over nearly all aspects of daily life.
2. c — Geographic isolation in remote hollows necessitated company construction of all infrastructure.
3. b — Scrip was private currency valid only at the company store.
4. c — The scrip capture rate measured the percentage of wages returned through company store purchases.
5. c — The U.S. Coal Commission found prices averaged 10–24% above independent merchants; some miners reported even larger differentials.
6. c — Housing was arranged by job status, race, and ethnicity in a visible hierarchy.
7. c — Diversity was deliberately engineered to impede labor organizing across racial and ethnic lines.
8. b — Baldwin-Felts agents served as mine guards who suppressed union activity.
9. c — Eviction and blacklisting were the primary tools for punishing union sympathizers.
10. b — Lynch was built by U.S. Steel's U.S. Coal and Coke subsidiary and had a majority-Black workforce.
11. c — Former residents often express both nostalgia for community and recognition of exploitation.
12. b — Blacklisting involved sharing names to prevent employment across the region.
13. c — The fundamental problem was the conflict of interest created by the company paying the doctor's salary.
14. e — All listed obstacles made shopping at independent stores impractical.
15. b — The phrase described literal financial debt to the company store.
16. b — Women managed households, took in boarders, and maintained community social networks.
17. b — Services cannot substitute for self-governance, regardless of quality.
18. c — Coal camp baseball was widespread and sometimes racially integrated.
19. b — The 1923 study found prices averaged 10–24% above independent stores.
20. b — Lynch's decline exemplifies the vulnerability of single-industry, outside-controlled communities.