Written in Blood: Courage and Corruption in the Appalachian War of Extraction

by Wess Harris (Editor)

Written in Blood features the work of Appalachia’s leading scholars and activists making available an accurate, ungilded, and uncensored understanding of our history. Combining new revelations from the past with sketches of a sane path forward, this is a deliberate collection looking at our past, present, and future. Sociologist Wess Harris ( When Miners March ) further documents the infamous Esau scrip system for women, suggesting an institutionalized practice of forced sexual servitude that was part of coal company policy. In a conversation with award-winning oral historian Michael Kline, federal mine inspector Larry Layne explains corporate complicity in the 1968 Farmington Mine disaster which killed seventy-eight men and became the catalyst for the passage of major changes in U.S. mine safety laws. Mine safety expert and whistleblower Jack Spadaro speaks candidly of years of attempts to silence his courageous voice and recalls government and university collaboration in covering up details of the 1972 Buffalo Creek flooding disaster, which killed over a hundred people and left four thousand homeless. Moving to the next generation of thinkers and activists, attorney Nathan Fetty examines current events in Appalachia and musician Carrie Kline suggests paths forward for people wishing to set their own course rather than depend on the kindness of corporations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Labor, Activism

264 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Marius Jaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violence, intimidation, and rape as means to extract pennies with company stores, keep workers’ families toeing the line, and rip down mountains for resources. This collection of interviews, essays, and document analyses provides a revolting and powerful lens into the day-to-day violence and suffering that result from systemic political and corporate extraction.

Clear writing, readable font size, powerful curation of content. This is historical and activist research and scholarship done right. Ivory tower folks should look to Written in Blood as a model for doing meaningful public scholarship right.

The book will piss you off and make you ask how revolution has not broken out in Appalachia.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not at all familiar with the history of coal mining, I was impressed with this anthology of stories and oral histories from the West Virginia coal mines. The time covered is vast, and includes events from recent Bush and Obama administrations. Failed candidate for the US Senate Don Blankenship is also mentioned a few times as well as current Senator and former governor Joe Manchin. The father of the other current Senator, Shelley Moore Capito, is also mentioned, and I learned he spent some time in prison for corruption during his gubernatorial years.

Recommended for those with interest in Appalachian, labor, and coal mining history.

[Noel Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Passionate, furious folk history covering coal mining in West Virginia across the twentieth century. Aggressively and righteously pro-labor, the book is both a condemnation of the greed of coal oligarchs and a love letter to the United Mine Workers of America. Notable primarily for its frank discussion and illumination of the company store and the Esau scrip (where women paid off miner debt with their bodies), this is the kind of history that needs to be remembered. The book tapers off a bit on the back end, becoming repetitive and more self-aggrandizing than necessary, but it is a vital work and another good counterpoint to the prevalent narrative about Appalachia.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

This is a bit of a grab-bag of very personal content about coal mining in West Virginia, ranging from interviews, to original essays; from previously published essays (mostly from Appalachian Heritage) to songs. Of particular interest to me were: the discussion of the often overlooked sexual exploitation suffered by the women in mining towns, the interview with UMWA president Cecil Roberts, and the interview with whistleblowing mine inspector Jack Spadaro.

[R.G. Yoho · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this book concerns the Esau Scrip, which many "scholars" actively deny.