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Joe Ozanic went to work in the coal mines of Mt. Olive, joining in 1909, UMW Local 728. After serving briefly in the army during World War I, Ozanic returned to work in the mines at Mt. Olive. In 1932, Ozanic joined the Progressive Mine Workers of America, a rival organization to the United Mine Workers, serving both as president of PMWA District 1 and as national president. During the 1940s, Ozanic was an organizer for the American Federation of Labor. These papers reflect Ozanic's involvement with the Progressive Mine Workers and the American Federation of Labor. Material from his career as a union leader includes correspondence, financial records, speeches, certificates, newspaper clippings, photographs, broadsides, scripts for plays, union convention proceedings, contracts, bylaws, constitutions, and miscellaneous publications. Subjects include the National Labor Relations Board, American labor unions during World War II, the Union Miners' Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois, AFL organizing drives, miners' marches in Illinois, Mother Jones, and John L. Lewis. Among the correspondents are Joe Pecik, John Fancher, and Vivian Pleska. Ozanic's personal papers include family correspondence, receipts, certificates, memorabilia, and photographs. The correspondence includes postcards from Ozanic to his wife and son from various places in the United States and Ozanic's certificate of competency as a coal miner, issued by the Illinois Miners Examining Board in 1917.

A collection of typescripts, brochures, pamphlets, books, tape recordings, and assorted ephemeral publications concerning radical political and economic groups and community organizing related to labor history in Appalachia and the United States as compiled by Keith Dix. Organizations and publications represented in the collection include New Directions in Labor (1970-1971), New American Movement (1970-1971), New University Conference (1971), Labor Research Association (1971), Students for a Democratic Society (1963), and Radical Education Project (1968-1969), among others. Also includes material from 1923 to 1976 concerning coal mining labor relations and the role of unions such as the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Topics of these items include rank-and-file members of the union, strikes, agreements, and mechanization. Tape recordings contain oral history interviews conducted by Keith Dix. Interviews chiefly concern coal mining in West Virginia. A more complete list of publications and tape recordings is available in the library. Most of the collection is arranged according in subject files, according to the topic or name of organization.

Papers of Rush Dew Holt, Sr. (1905-1955) relating to his personal and political activities. Types of material include publications, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera, among others. The collection is divided into six series: Personal and Political Papers (1840-2000 and undated), Artifacts (1939-1952 and undated), Legislative Records (1920-1955 and undated), Constituent Services (1923-1954 and undated), Press and Media Activity (1925-2003 and undated), and Administrative Files (1937-1940).

Minutes, correspondence, grievance case files, and union campaign material of union locals in the New River field. The correspondence concerns implementation of national bituminous coal mine contracts, local 6046's members' benefits, safety and working conditions in the Lochgelly mine, and state and federal legislation sought by the UMW. The minutes of Local 6046 meetings summarize all matters discussed and acted on, including reports from the local's mine and safety committees, expenses, contributions of money from employed members to sick or unemployed members, adjustment of disputes between miners and management and between the miners themselves. The grievance files reveal official relationships between the local, UMW District 29 and the national headquarters as well as relations with the supervisory personnel of the New River Coal Company.

Material and campaign literature from the campaign of Elijah Wolford for the presidency of the union, 1969. Includes a letter from a campaign committee, the campaign platform, reprint of remarks by Congressman Ken Hechler in the United States House of Representatives, and a report on "Conspiracy in Coal" by T.N. Bethell.