HELENA BOUCHEZ

"The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." - Eden Phillpotts

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Education Imperative

February 20, 2015 by Helena Bouchez Leave a Comment

My grandfather was the son of a 10th generation Belgian coal miner. Ten that we know of, it could be 15 or 20 as men have been mining in the low country of Belgium since coal was discovered there at the end of the 12th century.

The graphic below reflects the Belgian tradition that the existence and use of coal was revealed to a poor wheelwright named Houillos by an angel disguised as an old man.

Imagerie d'Epinal. N° 335, La découverte de la houille et d'où vient ce nom, d'après une tradition populaire du pays de Liège : [estampe] / E. Phosty
Source: gallica.bnf.fr
Like most young sons of laborers, my grandfather left high school after the 10th grade, presumably to go to work. I asked my father and aunt if he followed his father into the mine, but neither of them can recall him ever talking about it.

A stack of percentage certificates for correspondence courses in mining engineering among my grandfather’s personal effects, indicate that if he did, it was not without a plan.

There are 38 certificates for a range of subjects, from arithmetic, formulas, geometry and trigonometry to geology of coal, timbering, mechanics, and more.

This one is my favorite.

sjb750_ics_blast

There is however, no diploma. I presume he finished but unfortunately there is no way to find out. (I tried.)

International Correspondence Schools, Scranton, Pennsylvania, founded in 1891, stressed education as a path to upward mobility and promotion rather than the moral uplift favored by early educational reformers. Courses were constructed to provide students with knowledge they could immediately apply to the job. (Source: University of Scranton)

Laborers such as my grandfather looked to correspondence courses to lift out them of the working class, according to “Education for Success: The International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania.” a paper written by James Watkins that appeared in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography in 1996.

The article opens with this quote:

The dignity of labor is a fiction. To the intelligent and the educated belong the dignity. To labor remains the burden. — J.C. Bayless, American Institute of Mining, 1885

Did it work? The ICS Mining Engineering course of study included units on Mine Surveying and Mapping and Geometrical Drawing, two certificates that are missing. Yet the occupation listed on my grandfather’s WWI draft card, dated 21 September, 1918, is surveyor. If he used them to prove his expertise to his employer, they may not have made it back into the file.


At some point after 1918, my grandfather relocated to St. Louis and on the 4th of November, 1919, he enlisted in the Navy.

His ICS education gave him an edge there as well. He served as a Machinist’s Mate in San Diego, California for a year and then was sent to Aviation Machinist’s school at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois for a year, then back to San Diego until he was honorably discharged on the 3rd of November, 1922. Classification: Aviation Machinist’s Mate, Second Class.

Two years later, he met my grandmother at her brother’s wedding and married her in 1925. My father was born in 1927, and the first of two sisters followed in 1928.

The arrival of the Depression in 1929 brought new struggles but the knowledge and expertise my grandfather had acquired through his dogged efforts to acquire education enabled him to remain employed. According to the 1930 U.S. census, he and his family were living in Detroit. His occupation was noted as “Aircraft Motor Tester.”

The aircraft was the Ford Tri-Motor, the first all metal aircraft and the motor Grampa was testing was among the most innovative of its time. I know this because there is a Ford Tri-Motor in the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn and my dad would point it out to me each time we visited.

sjb dynamometer room
SJB  c.1930

Correspondence school and aviation trade school had provided my grandfather a modicum of security by lifting him out of labor. He was determined to make sure his children would never need to return to it.

My Dad has often spoken of the lengths that Grampa went to to reinforce the indignities of demanding physical labor — getting him the dirtiest job possible dipping engines at Hercules, then working with local recruiters to “facilitate” his enlistment in the US Army.

After the service, Dad enrolled in college, which was paid for on the GI Bill. He earned a degree in engineering and later, his designation as a Professional Engineer. I think he was prouder of the PE than his degree, and given that examination process (and the fact it was done by slide rule), it’s easy to understand why.

dadhelenadiploma1990Like his father, ours was determined that we (my sister and I) receive an education. He started putting money away for us for this purpose from the day we were born. Granted, it took me a while to get done, but I’ll always remember how proud and relieved he was when I finally did. (Me too.)

Education enabled my grandfather to break a centuries long pattern and chart a new course for himself; inculcating his children with its imperative created an enduring value that ensured education would remain a priority and benefit his decendants for generations to come.

Filed Under: Belgium Coal Mining, Geneaology Tagged With: coal mining, education, Les Stentors

Mining Intuition

June 29, 2014 by Helena Bouchez 1 Comment

In 1885,  22 year-old Louis Bouchez, my great grandfather, immigrated to America,  leaving his family in Paturages, Belgium and the mines of the Pays Noir region of France, never to return. He went to live in Pana, a coal town in central Illinois, and gained employment as a laborer at the Penwell Coal Mining Company.

Penwell_Mine_Pana_IL_1916http://www.idaillinois.org/
Penwell Mine, Pana IL 1916

In my quest to better understand the life and work of a miner, I came across the book, A Miner’s Life: An Autobiography by John Brophy (1883-1963).

Brophy was a long time labor leader and district president of the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America).

In the book, he notes: “Most miners developed a ‘sixth sense’ that would tell him when the chances were going against him, and never miss that warning, or his career in mining would be a short one.”

Brophy also says: “After a while the timbers begin to splinter and you can hear the roof “working.” This means that the strata of slate in the roof are beginning to break. It makes a sound like thunder, which can go on for as long as two or three days. An experienced miner can tell from the way the roof is “working” and from the splintering of the timbers just about when the roof is ready to fall. Then he gets his mine car and himself out of there, fast. It is a matter of pride to get as much coal out as possible, but nobody gets any credit for foolhardiness.”

Another passage, from Gail Weir’s book The Miners of Wabana: The Story of the Iron Ore Miners of Bell Island, describes incidents where men either stayed home from work or got out of harm’s way just in time because “there’s something wrong somewhere.”

As soon as I read that I thought, “I know that feeling.” And recent research that indicates DNA memory does exist introduces the possibility that maybe I really do know.

There was one incident in particular when I was living in Chicago, where some guy jumped on me. I wasn’t hurt, but that experience (including the cautionary intuitive hit that preceded it) left a pretty heavy imprint on my psyche.

To this day, I can tell you exactly where I was when I got that feeling (one that I would recognize now recognize immediately as a warning). I now consciously open myself to receiving such messages, especially when in an unfamiliar urban setting. This typically results in accusations of over caution from friends but their words do not phase me. For if I have inherited my ancestors’ memories, and with it their intuition, it only makes sense to listen and live long and well with it.

Filed Under: Belgium Coal Mining, Blog, Geneaology Tagged With: coal mining, miner's intuition, sixth sense

A Book of Work

March 8, 2014 by Helena Bouchez Leave a Comment

Belgian livret d'ouvrier 1874The image at left is of a Belgian “livret d’ouvrier” issued to my great grandfather in 1874 by the province of Hainaut.

Livret des ouvriers were official “work booklets” issued by the local government in France and Belgium throughout the 19th century. Workers were required to submit these booklets to their employers, who used them to confirm their identity and work history.

Employers not only recorded and validated the beginning and end dates of each work engagement, they also held onto the booklets for the duration.

The livret d’ouvrier functioned as a tool of social control and enabled industry and government to effectively restrict and control the movement of workers.

When a worker wanted to travel outside the immediate area, he had to go to his employer and retrieve his livret d’ouvrier — and presumably, he would also have to explain where he was going. Those without a valid livret d’ouvrier could be arrested for vagrancy.

An example of this restriction is depicted in Victor Hugo’s story Les Miserables, set in 1815 France. The document policeman Javert asks Jean Valjean for is his livret d’ouvrier. However, as a parolee, Valjean has only a yellow “feuille de route” also known as a “passeport jaune” (yellow passport) which immediately  identifies him as a former convict.

Created by the French regime in 1803,  livret des ouvriers were temporarily abandoned in 1830 after mine workers destroyed their livrets during riots at Borinage. However, an 1840 royal decree by King Leopold I of Belgium incorporated the livret d’ouvrier into Belgian law, and livrets became widespread there after 1845.

The first engagement in my great grandfather’s book is 16 July 1874 – 19 August 1874 at  Produits Colliery in Beligium. Between 1874 and 1884 there were several more engagements; those I can make out include Mines de Escarpelle, Mines de Lievin, Belle et Bonne, and Du Charbonniere Douaisienne, Pas de Calais, France.

The final entry in 1884:  “Vu a las Mairie du Hersin-Coupigny” literally “To see the Mayor of Hersin-Coupigny, Pas de Calais.”  This entry coincides with the date of a letter of good character my great grandfather obtained in preparation for his immigration to America in 1885.

Filed Under: Belgium Coal Mining, Blog, Geneaology

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