A proposed Kentucky license plate is in the works that would honor coal miners and the heritage of coal mining.

The idea has been discussed for a long time, according to Phyllis Sizemore, assistant to the curator at the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Benham. But now the museum and state representative Rick Nelson are trying to turn the idea into reality.

"We're always ready to work on a project to honor our coal miners," said Sizemore. "It will give Kentuckians the opportunity to have a state license plate that will honor our coal miners."

She said that Nelson came by one day and proposed working together on the idea. Now he plans to propose a bill to get the license plate created.

Nelson, who was born in Black Star, said his dad was a coal miner for 35 years.

"It would be a great gift for everybody who has had a grandfather or father in the coal mines," he said.

Brenda Rhymer, who grew up in the Mary Helen coal camp where many of her family members were coal miners, agrees.

"I've always been proud of the coal mining heritage," she said. "There is a bond between people who grew up in coal mining camps. We'd watch our dads get their dinner buckets and go to work. You always would wonder when they walk out the door if they will come back."

She said the dangers that were part of working in the coal mines could not be ignored.

"We'd watch the hearse go up, and we'd wonder whose daddy got killed this time. You'd wonder if it was going to be your daddy," she said.

Rhymer's brother, Harvey Hill, was killed in the mines on June 3, 1981. She remembered her father picking up her brother's blackened and scarred hands in the casket and saying he was proud his son earned his living by his hands.

Rhymer said she believes the license plate would be a great idea for those who want to display their heritage.

Nelson said the museum will be able to submit several designs for the license plate the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which would choose the final design. The museum would probably host a design contest, possibly for school children or local artists.

But before that can begin, Kentucky law requires that 900 people pay a $25 deposit and fill out an application, available from the county clerk's office. Afterwards, the plates can be printed, they will cost an additional $25 each.

Sizemore hopes that 900 people from Harlan County alone will participate in the project, which she said was "made for Harlan."

"I don't know of a people or industry that have been more important than coal miners."