Do, Die, or Get Along: A Tale of Two Appalachian Towns

249 Pages·2007·2.52 MB·English

by  Peter Crow

1 DO, DIE, OR GET ALONG
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DO, DIE, OR GET ALONG Norm
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23 A Tale of Two Appalachian Towns [-3],
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PETER CROW TheUniversityofGeorgiaPress Athens&London
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1 ©2007bytheUniversityofGeorgiaPress
2 Athens,Georgia30602
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Allrightsreserved
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SetinNewCaledoniabyBookcomp,Inc.
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PrintedandboundbyThomson-Shore
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Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesfor
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permanenceanddurabilityoftheCommitteeon
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ProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevityofthe
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CouncilonLibraryResources.
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11 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
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16 Crow,Peter,1942–
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17 Do,die,orgetalong:ataleoftwoAppalachian
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p.cm. Cust
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
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ISBN-13:978-0-8203-2863-8(hardcover:alk.paper)
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ISBN-10:0-8203-2863-4(hardcover:alk.paper)
23 [-4],
ISBN-13:978-0-8203-2871-3(pbk.:alk.paper)
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ISBN-10:0-8203-2871-5(pbk.:alk.paper)
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26 1.SaintPaul(Va.)—Biography. 2.Dante(Va.)—
27 Biography. 3.Oralhistory. 4.Communitylife—
28 Virginia—SaintPaul. 5.Communitylife—
29 Virginia—Dante. 6.SaintPaul(Va.)—Social
30 conditions. 7.Dante(Va.)—Socialconditions.
31 8.Coalminesandmining—Virginia—SaintPaul—
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History. 9.Coalminesandmining—Virginia—
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Dante—History. 10.Companytowns—Virginia—
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Casestudies. I.Title.
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F234.S15C762007
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975.5'743—dc22
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2006014019
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39 BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataavailable
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CartographybyDavidWasserboehr.
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4 ToBeth,Amy,andRob,
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AndtothepeopleofSt.PaulandDante
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8 InmemoryofTomFletcher,NanniePhillipsGordon,
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RoyJ.Phillips,andJamesWilliamThomas
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CONTENTS
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Preface / ix
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Introduction / xiii
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8 ThePeopleWhoTellThisStory / xxi
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1.FrontierTimes / 1
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11 2.IncorporatedTown—EarlyYears / 13
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3.CompanyTown—EarlyYears / 17
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4.ImmigrantLabor / 24
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15 5.WildTimesinSt.Paul / 28
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6.CivilityinSt.Paul / 34
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9.Unionization / 55 * PgEn
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22 10.TheTwoTownsInterfacing,Diverging / 61
23 11.MiningSafety / 67 [-7],
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12.TheStripMineActof1977 / 80
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26 13.RegionalPlanningandRiverPolitics / 98
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14.CompanyTownwithNoCompany / 115
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29 15.ThePittstonStrikeof1989–90 / 123
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16.ChangingAttitudes / 143
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17.Women,Conservationists,andtheEconomy / 148
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33 18.EducationandYouth / 157
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19.ChangingStrategyforRegionalRenewal / 166
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36 20.No-CompanyTownFightsOn / 169
37 Conclusion / 186
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Notes / 197
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40 Index / 209
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PREFACE
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4 Thestoryyouareabouttoreadcametomeinparts,atdifferenttimes,toldby
5 anumberofpeople.ThemoreIheard,themoreeagerIwastotellitmyself,
6 topassitontostudentsandothers,towriteitinmyownwords.Butthemore
7 Iworkedatit,themoreIfoundmyselfrelyingonthevoicesoftheoriginal
8 tellers,untilfinallyIhadremovedmyownvoicealmostentirely.WhydidI
9 do this? I did it because their telling was more interesting than my telling.
10 AndIdiditbecauseIrealizeditwastimeforAppalachianscholarstostop
11 talkingaboutAppalachianpeoplelongenoughforthosepeopletospeakfor [Firs
12 themselves.
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13 Also,asatoolofresearch,learning,andgrowth,suchanapproachismuch
14 neededandoverdue.Foranumberofyears,postmodernthinkerssuspicious
15 ofbroad,abstract,so-calledobjectiveclaimstotruthhavebeendrawntoau-
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16 thenticnarrativeatthelocallevel.Asearlyas1973,anthropologistandethno-
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17 grapherCliffordGeertztalkedabout“thickdescription”of“localknowledge”
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18 being the most productive way to interpret cultures.1 In 1981, philosopher
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19 andethicistAlasdairMacIntyreproposedthatonlybytellingone’spersonal
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20 story(ascontextualizedbycommunity)cananindividualidentifyhisorher
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21 owntelosandtherebyknowwhatvirtueorrightactionentails.2Andmorere-
22 cently,agroupofsocialpsychologistsandfeminists,mostprominentlyMary
23 FieldBelenky,havedemonstratedthatencouragingpeopletotelltheirown [-9],
24 storiesempowersthem,especiallypeoplefrequentlynottakenseriously.3
25 Furthermore,readingagoodstorytoldbytheprincipalsofthatstoryplays
26 into the constructivist notion of learning originated by John Dewey, devel-
27 opedbyJeromeBrunerandothers,embracedbyteacherseverywhere,and
28 roundlyignoredbymanystatelegislatureslockedintostandardsoflearning.4
29 Reading such as story constitutes a journey of discovery, a quest for mean-
30 ingfulresonances,especiallyifthereisnotamonsterattheendofthebook
31 calledatest.Andwhenthestoryinvolvescommunity,asitdoeshere,readers
32 gainanappreciationforthekindofpeoplewithwhomtheywanttosharetheir
33 journey.Suchanexperienceencouragesreaderstostrikeoutontheirown,
34 initiatetheirownconversations,andbecomeinvolvedinalifesignificantlyof
35 theirownshaping.
36 AsformyroleinrecordingandeditingtheseAppalachianvoices,Irealized
37 earlyonthatinordertocaptureintimaciesofplace,Ihadtolimitthenarrative
38 topeopleassociatedwithjustoneortwoparticularcommunities.IchoseSt.
39 PaulandnearbyDante,Virginia,becausefascinatinglinksbetweentheirpar-
40 ticularpastandpresentseemedespeciallyilluminativeofissuesconfounding
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