Charles "Peaches" Gude

Charles started working at Consolidated Coal's Burning Star #2 as a relief man and pit boss in 1975. He one of the first African-Americans since the Depression to hold a management position in the Illinois coal fields. It made sense; Peaches had a mining background, the work was in him. As he recounts, "I came from a coal mining family. My step-dad was a coal miner, and everyone knew me. I started talking to a boss one day, we were talking about coal, and he realized I knew more about it than most of his men. So he asked me there and then to take the test. I started working not a couple of weeks after."

Later Peaches went to work as a surface boss at the Old Ben Coal Company's giant John Ross Coal Preparation Plant in West Frankfort, Illinois. In this position, he was responsible for cleaning thousands of tons of coal each day. Peaches ended his career as Top Supervisor at Old Ben #25 in 1998. This image was made in his old office.

Reflecting on his life as a boss, Peaches says, "Everyone knew me in the mines because of my step-father and family. I was a boss my whole career, but every time the men threw a party, even a union picnic, they invited me. I treated them with respect because I knew what it was to be a coal miner."