Penn State 1913
50th Infantry, Camp Sevier, SC
Discharged December 1918
Ralph E. Kirk was a mining expert with a long career in modernizing coal mines and making mining safer. The youngest of nine children, he was born in 1889 in Luthersburg, PA, to Joseph Haines Kirk and Anna Maria Goodlander Kirk.
His interest in coal mines began early. As a child, he went with his father to the country coal bed where coal was mined for the community and listened as his father explained the geology of coal. His interest led him to pick persistently at a small coal seam located in an outcrop on his family's Pennsylvania land. He once said, "The mine wasn't very successful, but I learned a lot."
A graduate of Brown Preparatory School in Philadelphia in 1909, he entered the Pennsylvania State University and in 1913 earned with honors a degree in mining engineering. At Penn State, he was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Scabbard and Blade.
In the summers he worked in coal mines for Mahoning Coal Company and H.C. Frick Company in Pennsylvania. His long professional career began after graduation when he was assistant to the chief engineer at the Bessemer Coke Company in Masontown, then superintendent of the Luzerne Coal and Coke Company, and in 1916 assistant superintendent of Colonial Three in Rowes Run and Colonial Four in Grindstone for US Steel Corporation.
In 1917 he volunteered for the Army and went to Ft. Oglethorpe, GA for officer training. He was commissioned Captain and served in the 50th Infantry Regiment.
After his discharge in December 1918, he returned to the Frick Co. where he served as superintendent of a number of mines. In 1936 he was named superintendent of coal mines at Tennessee Coal and Iron, a division of US Steel in Birmingham, AL. He was later named manager of raw materials and also became an expert on early iron making and coal mining in Alabama.
His long career in coal mining lasted well past his retirement from TCI in 1954. He and Percy Cowin formed Kirk and Cowin Mining Engineers and Consultants in Birmingham. He continued to consult nationally until 1967. He remained active in professional organizations including the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and he laid the cornerstone for the Mineral Industries Building at The University of Alabama. In August 1983 he was presented with the Distinguished Member Award by the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME.
Ralph Emerson Kirk died later that year at Veterans Hospital, Tuscaloosa.
He and his wife Kittie had three daughters (Katherine, Elisabeth, and Elinor) and ten grandchildren.
50th Infantry, Camp Sevier, SC
Discharged December 1918
Ralph E. Kirk was a mining expert with a long career in modernizing coal mines and making mining safer. The youngest of nine children, he was born in 1889 in Luthersburg, PA, to Joseph Haines Kirk and Anna Maria Goodlander Kirk.
His interest in coal mines began early. As a child, he went with his father to the country coal bed where coal was mined for the community and listened as his father explained the geology of coal. His interest led him to pick persistently at a small coal seam located in an outcrop on his family's Pennsylvania land. He once said, "The mine wasn't very successful, but I learned a lot."
A graduate of Brown Preparatory School in Philadelphia in 1909, he entered the Pennsylvania State University and in 1913 earned with honors a degree in mining engineering. At Penn State, he was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Scabbard and Blade.
In the summers he worked in coal mines for Mahoning Coal Company and H.C. Frick Company in Pennsylvania. His long professional career began after graduation when he was assistant to the chief engineer at the Bessemer Coke Company in Masontown, then superintendent of the Luzerne Coal and Coke Company, and in 1916 assistant superintendent of Colonial Three in Rowes Run and Colonial Four in Grindstone for US Steel Corporation.
In 1917 he volunteered for the Army and went to Ft. Oglethorpe, GA for officer training. He was commissioned Captain and served in the 50th Infantry Regiment.
After his discharge in December 1918, he returned to the Frick Co. where he served as superintendent of a number of mines. In 1936 he was named superintendent of coal mines at Tennessee Coal and Iron, a division of US Steel in Birmingham, AL. He was later named manager of raw materials and also became an expert on early iron making and coal mining in Alabama.
His long career in coal mining lasted well past his retirement from TCI in 1954. He and Percy Cowin formed Kirk and Cowin Mining Engineers and Consultants in Birmingham. He continued to consult nationally until 1967. He remained active in professional organizations including the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and he laid the cornerstone for the Mineral Industries Building at The University of Alabama. In August 1983 he was presented with the Distinguished Member Award by the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME.
Ralph Emerson Kirk died later that year at Veterans Hospital, Tuscaloosa.
He and his wife Kittie had three daughters (Katherine, Elisabeth, and Elinor) and ten grandchildren.
Penn State 1913
50th Infantry, Camp Sevier, SC
Discharged December 1918
Ralph E. Kirk was a mining expert with a long career in modernizing coal mines and making mining safer. The youngest of nine children, he was born in 1889 in Luthersburg, PA, to Joseph Haines Kirk and Anna Maria Goodlander Kirk.
His interest in coal mines began early. As a child, he went with his father to the country coal bed where coal was mined for the community and listened as his father explained the geology of coal. His interest led him to pick persistently at a small coal seam located in an outcrop on his family's Pennsylvania land. He once said, "The mine wasn't very successful, but I learned a lot."
A graduate of Brown Preparatory School in Philadelphia in 1909, he entered the Pennsylvania State University and in 1913 earned with honors a degree in mining engineering. At Penn State, he was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Scabbard and Blade.
In the summers he worked in coal mines for Mahoning Coal Company and H.C. Frick Company in Pennsylvania. His long professional career began after graduation when he was assistant to the chief engineer at the Bessemer Coke Company in Masontown, then superintendent of the Luzerne Coal and Coke Company, and in 1916 assistant superintendent of Colonial Three in Rowes Run and Colonial Four in Grindstone for US Steel Corporation.
In 1917 he volunteered for the Army and went to Ft. Oglethorpe, GA for officer training. He was commissioned Captain and served in the 50th Infantry Regiment.
After his discharge in December 1918, he returned to the Frick Co. where he served as superintendent of a number of mines. In 1936 he was named superintendent of coal mines at Tennessee Coal and Iron, a division of US Steel in Birmingham, AL. He was later named manager of raw materials and also became an expert on early iron making and coal mining in Alabama.
His long career in coal mining lasted well past his retirement from TCI in 1954. He and Percy Cowin formed Kirk and Cowin Mining Engineers and Consultants in Birmingham. He continued to consult nationally until 1967. He remained active in professional organizations including the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and he laid the cornerstone for the Mineral Industries Building at The University of Alabama. In August 1983 he was presented with the Distinguished Member Award by the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME.
Ralph Emerson Kirk died later that year at Veterans Hospital, Tuscaloosa.
He and his wife Kittie had three daughters (Katherine, Elisabeth, and Elinor) and ten grandchildren.
50th Infantry, Camp Sevier, SC
Discharged December 1918
Ralph E. Kirk was a mining expert with a long career in modernizing coal mines and making mining safer. The youngest of nine children, he was born in 1889 in Luthersburg, PA, to Joseph Haines Kirk and Anna Maria Goodlander Kirk.
His interest in coal mines began early. As a child, he went with his father to the country coal bed where coal was mined for the community and listened as his father explained the geology of coal. His interest led him to pick persistently at a small coal seam located in an outcrop on his family's Pennsylvania land. He once said, "The mine wasn't very successful, but I learned a lot."
A graduate of Brown Preparatory School in Philadelphia in 1909, he entered the Pennsylvania State University and in 1913 earned with honors a degree in mining engineering. At Penn State, he was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Scabbard and Blade.
In the summers he worked in coal mines for Mahoning Coal Company and H.C. Frick Company in Pennsylvania. His long professional career began after graduation when he was assistant to the chief engineer at the Bessemer Coke Company in Masontown, then superintendent of the Luzerne Coal and Coke Company, and in 1916 assistant superintendent of Colonial Three in Rowes Run and Colonial Four in Grindstone for US Steel Corporation.
In 1917 he volunteered for the Army and went to Ft. Oglethorpe, GA for officer training. He was commissioned Captain and served in the 50th Infantry Regiment.
After his discharge in December 1918, he returned to the Frick Co. where he served as superintendent of a number of mines. In 1936 he was named superintendent of coal mines at Tennessee Coal and Iron, a division of US Steel in Birmingham, AL. He was later named manager of raw materials and also became an expert on early iron making and coal mining in Alabama.
His long career in coal mining lasted well past his retirement from TCI in 1954. He and Percy Cowin formed Kirk and Cowin Mining Engineers and Consultants in Birmingham. He continued to consult nationally until 1967. He remained active in professional organizations including the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, and he laid the cornerstone for the Mineral Industries Building at The University of Alabama. In August 1983 he was presented with the Distinguished Member Award by the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME.
Ralph Emerson Kirk died later that year at Veterans Hospital, Tuscaloosa.
He and his wife Kittie had three daughters (Katherine, Elisabeth, and Elinor) and ten grandchildren.
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