A guide to the historical coal towns of the Big Sandy River Valley that provides brief histories of each town, descriptions of the buildings and structures that remain, and insight into the town's residents.

Boom – Crisis – Heritage, these terms aptly outline the history of global coal mining after 1945. The essays collected in this volume explore this history with different emphases and questions. The range of topics also reflects this broad approach. The first section contains contributions on political, social and economic history. They address the European energy system in the globalised world of the 20th and 21st centuries as well as specific social policies in mining regions. The second section then focuses on the medialisation of mining and its legacies, also paying attention to the environmental history of mining. The anthology, which goes back to a conference of the same name at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, thus offers a multi-faceted insight into the research field of modern mining history.

In 1908 and 1909, noted social reformer and "songcatcher" Olive Dame Campbell traveled with her husband, John C. Campbell, through the Southern Highlands region of Appalachia to survey the social and economic conditions in mountain communities. Throughout the journey, Olive kept a detailed diary offering a vivid, entertaining, and personal account of the places the couple visited, the people they met, and the mountain cultures they encountered. Although John C. Campbell's book, The Southern Highlander and His Homeland, is cited by nearly every scholar writing about the region, little has been published about the Campbells themselves and their role in the sociological, educational, and cultural history of Appalachia. In this critical edition, Elizabeth McCutchen Williams makes Olive's diary widely accessible to scholars and students for the first time. Appalachian Travels only offers an invaluable account of mountain society at the turn of the twentieth century.

“This book is well written and meticulously documented; it will add significantly to the available literature on West Virginia’s industrial and community history. It should find a receptive audience among college and post- graduate scholars of industrial and labor history, West Virginia history, and Appalachian studies.” —John Lilly, editor, Goldenseal The company owned the houses. It owned the stores. It provided medical and governmental services. It provided practically all the jobs. Gary, West Virginia, a coal mining town in the southern part of the state, was a creation of U.S. Steel. And while the workers were not formally bound to the company, their fortunes—like that of their community—were inextricably tied to the success of U.S. Steel. Gary developed in the early twentieth century as U.S. Steel sought a new supply of raw material for its industrial operations. The rich Pocahontas coal field in remote southern West Virginia provided the carbon-rich, low-sulfur coal the company required. To house the thousands of workers it would import to mine that coal bed, U.S. Steel carved a town out of the mountain wilderness. The company was the sole reason for its existence. In this fascinating book, Ronald Garay tells the story of how industry-altering decisions made by U.S. Steel executives reverberated in the hollows of Appalachia. From the area’s industrial revolution in the early twentieth century to the peak of steel-making activity in the 1940s to the industry’s decline in the 1970s, U.S. Steel and Gary, West Virginia offers an illuminating example of how coal and steel paternalism shaped the eastern mountain region and the limited ways communities and their economies evolve. In telling the story of Gary, this volume freshly illuminates the stories of other mining towns throughout Appalachia. At once a work of passionate journalism and a cogent analysis of economic development in Appalachia, this work is a significant contribution to the scholarship on U.S. business history, labor history, and Appalachian studies. Ronald Garay, a professor emeritus of mass communication at Louisiana State University, is the author of Gordon McLendon: The Maverick of Radio and The Manship School: A History of Journalism Education at LSU.

UNRAVELLING AERIAL MYSTERIES OF THE PAST Charles Fort published his first and most influential book, The Book of the Damned, a century ago in 1919, collecting together many historical reports of strange aerial phenomena. Since the birth of the UFO controversy in 1947 Fort’s writings have been cited in countless books and web pages. Yet this is the first time in a hundred years that researchers have systematically verified the sources and content of every one of these oft-recycled stories, correcting many errors, placing each case in its historical context, and submitting it to a careful scientific investigation in an attempt to find a conventional answer. What were these reported phenomena? Is it possible to find non-exotic explanations? With the advantage of modern knowledge, methods, and resources, in most cases the answer proves to be yes. Some of the solutions found may shock the general reader and surprise even specialists. Yet in the end a few well-documented events remain unexplained.

This comprehensive guide provides the reader with basic information of the most common types of structures, sites, and objects encountered in industrial archaeology. These include bridges, railroads, roads, waterways, several types of production and extraction factories, water and power generating facilities, and others. Each chapters contains a brief introduction to the technology or features of each class of installation, illustrations with characteristics that help identifying important elements of the type, and a glossary of common terms. Two chapters offer valuable guidance on researching industrial properties and landscapes. For students, avocational archaeologists, and cultural resource management surveys, this volume will be an essential reference.

Floyd County, named for Kentucky pioneer John Floyd, was formed in 1799. Originally encompassing all of the Big Sandy River Valley and much of eastern Kentucky, the boundaries included portions of what are now Pike, Martin, Knott, Magoffin, and Johnson Counties. Because of its river access, Floyd County developed earlier than many counties in eastern Kentucky. Prestonsburg, the county seat, became a major river port and center of trade in the region. With the coming of the railroad in 1903 and the coal industry, which began booming in the early 20th century, the county rapidly grew. This growth included a rapid rise in population due to the migration of native-born whites from around the country, European immigrants, and African Americans from southern plantations and coalfields. What had been an agrarian, white population suddenly took on a whole new face, one more reflective of the nation. The railroads and coal industry permanently changed both the economy and culture of Floyd County.

The story of African Americans in Kentucky is as diverse and vibrant as the state's general history. The work of more than 150 writers, The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia is an essential guide to the black experience in the Commonwealth. The encyclopedia includes biographical sketches of politicians and community leaders as well as pioneers in art, science, and industry. Kentucky's impact on the national scene is registered in an array of notable figures, such as writers William Wells Brown and bell hooks, reformers Bessie Lucas Allen and Shelby Lanier Jr., sports icons Muhammad Ali and Isaac Murphy, civil rights leaders Whitney Young Jr. and Georgia Powers, and entertainers Ernest Hogan, Helen Humes, and the Nappy Roots. Featuring entries on the individuals, events, places, organizations, movements, and institutions that have shaped the state's history since its origins, the volume also includes topical essays on the civil rights movement, Eastern Kentucky coalfields, business, education, and women. For researchers, students, and all who cherish local history, The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia is an indispensable reference that highlights the diversity of the state's culture and history.

Since 1795, when Peter Whitaker built the first known settlement on what is now Linefork Creek, Letcher Countians have demonstrated the perseverance and fortitude for which Appalachian people are known. The majesty of Pine Mountain in the south of the county or the rare beauty of old-growth forests that became Lilley Cornett Woods must have brought Daniel Boone to seek a paradise in "Kanta-ke." Whitesburg and Letcher County have seen their resources of timber, oil, and coal bring growth, as well as decline. With the rise of the coal industry before World War I came a steady flow of Eastern European immigrants who contributed a new and exciting perspective on life, business, and art. It was Italian stonemason John Palumbo Sr. who led other Italians to Whitesburg because the beauty of it reminded him of his home in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The churches, homes, and buildings they established stand in homage to their energy and skill.

The award-winning author of Kentucky Marine “has crafted an excellent account of how World War I impacted Kentucky socially, economically, and politically” (Journal of America’s Military Past). From five thousand children marching in a parade, singing, “Johnnie get your hoe . . . Mary dig your row,” to communities banding together to observe Meatless Tuesdays and Wheatless Wednesdays, Kentuckians were loyal supporters of their country during the First World War. Kentucky had one of the lowest rates of draft dodging in the nation, and the state increased its coal production by 50 percent during the war years. Overwhelmingly, the people of the Commonwealth set aside partisan interests and worked together to help the nation achieve victory in Europe. David J. Bettez provides the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Great War on Bluegrass society, politics, economy, and culture, contextualizing the state’s involvement within the national experience. His exhaustively researched study examines the Kentucky Council of Defense—which sponsored local war-effort activities—military mobilization and preparation, opposition and dissent, and the role of religion and higher education in shaping the state’s response to the war. It also describes the efforts of Kentuckians who served abroad in military and civilian capacities, and postwar memorialization of their contributions. Kentucky and the Great War explores the impact of the conflict on women’s suffrage, child labor, and African American life. In particular, Bettez investigates how black citizens were urged to support a war to make the world “safe for democracy” even as their civil rights and freedoms were violated in the Jim Crow South. This engaging and timely social history offers new perspectives on an overlooked aspect of World War I.