The kind of folksinger that most just sing about, Nimrod Workman labored in coal mines for 42 years before an injury-induced retirement in the early '50s. A staunch miners' rights activist, Workman began participating in the organized labor movement throughout Appalachia in the '20s and collected songs along the way. After fighting for compensation for black lung disease (which he won in 1971), Workman focused solely on his music: a mixed repertoire of work songs and old Appalachian Christian ballads sung acapella. His firsthand experience with Appalachian history and expressively hoarse vocal style earned him renown in folk circles and a National Heritage Fellowship in 1986.