Night Comes To The Cumberlands: A Biography Of A Depressed Area

by Harry M. Claudill

"At the time it was first published in 1962, it framed such an urgent appeal to the American conscience that it actually prompted the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission, an agency that has pumped millions of dollars into Appalachia.
Caudill's study begins in the violence of the Indian wars and ends in the economic despair of the 1950s and 1960s. Two hundred years ago, the Cumberland Plateau was a land of great promise. Its deep, twisting valleys contained rich bottomlands. The surrounding mountains were teeming with game and covered with valuable timber. The people who came into this land scratched out a living by farming, hunting, and making all the things they need-including whiskey.
The quality of life in Appalachia declined during the Civil War and Appalachia remained "in a bad way" for the next century. By the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Appalachia had become an island of poverty in a national sea of plenty and prosperity. Caudill's book alerted the mainstream world to our problems and their causes. Since then the ARC has provided millions of dollars to strengthen the brick and mortar infrastructure of Appalachia and to help us recover from a century of economic problems that had greatly undermined our quality of life."-Print ed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2014

Reviews

[Vickie Woodard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up 3 miles from Cumberland Gap at the foot of a mountain that was mined from time to time by Mingo Mountain Coal Company. My mom and her mom and her mom and her mom, all the way back to Elizabeth Rollins, were born in the substandard cabins of coal mining camps.
The author's histories ring true with my family stories. The cabins that were deducted from a miner's pay before they saw it. Scrip and company stores designed to keep miners in debt. The fight to unionize. The fight for pensions. The rape of the land by companies that only cared about the bottom line.
I've seen the remains of houses caught on the railroad trestle of Old Yellow Creek. Spring rains dislodged slag piles that forced cabins to the nearest waterway. I've seen a slag/slate pile that burned for years just west of Premier KY. I've seen stills. They're legal for home brew, just don't try to sell it.
I've heard of money that came to the mountains when the US was made aware of the poverty: too little too late for the families of miners who worked themselves to death.
This book is dated. It told America the sad story of families and mountains.
There are people in the Appalachians that complain over lost jobs in the mining community. The companies have switched to mechanism. One miner pushing buttons can do the work of 100 miners from my Papaw's era. They can't seem to envision a life without coal.
Its a sad story, the story of my mom's side of the family.
And I'm glad I read it

[Michael Hardesty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Mandatory Read for Anyone Trying to Grasp an Understanding of the Kentucky Appalachians.

Harry Caudill pulls no punches in ascribing blame for the plight of the land and of the people of the Cumberlands. I'm not sure anyone has the depth and breadth of knowledge of the major influences contributing to the pitiable state of affairs in the Eastern Kentucky mountains as the author.

[J. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For students of Appalachian culture, in particular the coal culture, Caudill's historical/sociological study is required reading. As a grandson and great-grandson of miners in Bell County, Kentucky, I retained a great many sketchy memories of visits and incidents over the years (particularly during the 1950s and 60s) that only served as relics of the past, not a clear understanding of their underlying meaning. I bought candy at the commissary (company store), visited a one-room school house, walked the railroad tracks, watched in awe as streams of coal from the mine above ran down chutes through the tipple and filled the cars below, and generally traipsed the whole area over the years without understanding the industry, the politics, and the psychology of the very culture I claimed to know. Caudill's book filled in the gaps in my knowledge and understanding in a way that was at once enlightening, frustrating and depressing, though is was a tour worth taking.

[Robert Sparkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, especially for those who have an Appalachian heritage.

My parents came from Appalachia but I never lived there.

The main takeaway for me is a sense of humility in regards to the role of government in aiding others, and the true injustice that takes place in the world. There is a history of exploitation of Appalachia by coal companies interested in quick profits with little regard for the lives of others.

The full panopoly of facts in regards to the exploitation of Appalachians regarding their land, including their own shortsightedness, is disturbing. Jacob acquired the birthright blessing from Esau through deceit...at the same time, Esau despised his birthright. I feel like Appalachians despised the gift of God, but at the same time, the speculators were deceitfully evil.

Wokeness fails to acknowledge that many have suffered throughout American history...it is not only the descendants of African slaves.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, moving portrait of the rise and fall of a whole community; and an Americans subculture that will be alien even to most Americans unless they happen to be from Kentucky or some of the adjacent states. Claudill expertly tells the story of how life in Central and Southern Kentucky went from the promise of frontier days when the land was rich and fertile to mid 20th century after it has been ruthlessly exploited by far away companies only interested in making money and caring nothing about the land or it's people.

Although the work is almost 60 years old, it's critique of unrestrained capitalism seems as though it could have been written today. We might not have company stores and company towns anymore but workers today are just as exploited and just as trapped in hopeless poverty, with almost no chance of upward mobility. Claudill paints an excellent portrait of just what it's like to be trapped in such a system.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a history book researched in the 1950s and published in 1962, therefore it is not just a study of the Appalachian and Cumberland plateau regions’ from the Civil War through 1960, but a can be used as a study in what was accepted then v what is acceptable and unacceptable now in language, treatment and behavior.

The study includes forest, farm and coal jobs; family and community connections; the poverty of the regions; racial, gender, status and economic prejudices; welfare; unionization; social security; physical and emotional health; education; mobility...

It is long, but suitable for adults and teens with discussion about differences in eras, treatment, language, and prejudices. My book # 14 for 2021.

[Evadare Volney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating history, with so many disparate elements combined in one place. A bit dated, so watch out for language that would be considered racist, classist, and/or misogynist today. I also can't believe he thinks part of Appalachia's problem is that it isn't religious enough. But for all these flaws he gives a scathing and clear-eyed account of how industrialists' greed and politicians' cowardice and corruption created a perfect storm of exploitation.

[Resa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still as relevant today as it was in 1962 & for many reasons involving the coal mining region and beyond. So much of what Caudill suggested has come to pass.
We cannot be a great country when we sit idly by and allow corporations to exploit regions and people with no accountability.

[Delores · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful and wholly depressing

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1961 this is kind of a prequel to "Hillbilly Elegy". Very interesting mix of history, folklore and ethnography.

[edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrific hill country history written with an expert pen

I never fully comprehended the meaning of, "I owe my soul to the company store" till reading this book. Although written in the 1960s, the stark reality of Kentucky's history and the iron clad grasp of corporate America upon its workers continues today.

[Jo Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very difficult book to read. It is dark but is a subject which we need to learn from. Our land and our citizens are interdependent and you can't abuse one without abusing the other. Hopefully the Cumberland plateau has begun recovering since the end of the book in the 1960s. America must help its own people develop even while helping foreign nations--if not before.

[Katie Ark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating history and still very relevant to issues today.

[Albert Spaiches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written history of the area and it's demise.
Too bad the politician's of today haven't learned from history.
Especially when it pertains to educating people.