During the Great Depression, thousands of workers—most of them African American—dug the Hawks Nest Tunnel through silica-rich rock in West Virginia without proper protection, causing one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history as hundreds died from silicosis. Because Black workers were often denied burial in local cemeteries, many were buried in an unmarked field near Summersville. Today, the restored Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster Memorial and cemetery, dedicated in 2012, honors the victims and remembers the tragedy's role in improving workplace safety and workers' rights.