The collection consists of oral history interviews with Cumberland residents pertaining to coal mining and community life in Cumberland and area.
The collection contains two sets of audio recordings. The first set, T4260:0001-0023, are audio reel recordings entitled "Cumberland History Project" and are a collection of oral history interviews recorded by students of Cumberland Intermediate School in 1974 and 1975. The focus of the interviews is early Cumberland and the local coal mining industry. The second set, T4260:0024-0026 are three cassette tapes recorded from 1979 to 1985 by Cumberland Museum curator, Dale Reeves, and researchers Sandra Clarke and Dale Lovick. These tapes are also oral history interviews about the Cumberland area and the coal mining industry.