Description
The history of women's roles in the coalfields and communities of Appalachia has been poorly documented. What has been recorded depicts Appalachian women as suppressed by a male-dominated culture. In Women of Coal, photographs and words of self-expression combine to challenge the stereotypes of mountain and coalfield women. Heirs to a rich tradition of protest that extends from the women who endured incredible hardships in the early coal camps, the women in this book do not see themselves as stereotypical. Concerned with the larger picture are women such as Linda Lester, a coal miner from Appalachia, Virginia; she helped form a Coal Employment Project for women, and the project now has members in Australia, Great Britain, and Germany. Attitudes are not weighed down by the past but rather embrace it to address issues in the present. Edith Crabtree, for example, is concerned with black lung benefits and medical coverage for workers. Edna Gulley's heart goes out to the poor who can't afford to buy clothes. Susan Oglebay, an attorney for the United Mine Workers, is very aware that the coal industry is collapsing all around and despairs for the future. Helen Carson, retired director of a Head Start program, thinks women are accepting new changes and adapting to them, while men are sticking to, and stuck in, traditional political forms. The old attitudes spur these women to work in their communities toward a better future for their families. Just as James Agee and Walker Evans revealed the grim reality of southern sharecroppers during the Depression, Randall Norris and Jean-Philippe Cypres capture the lives of three generations of women in central Appalachia. Told in their own words, these stories will speak to general readers as well as anyone interested in the culture and history of Appalachia… (more)