Appalachian Coal Mining Memories: Life in the Coal Fields of Virginia's New River Valley by Mary B. La Lone (review)

Virginia after the battles of Rich Mountain and Philippi in 1861 or who find no compelling reason to make an Appalachian connection when discussing the region's four major battles. This work, the editors hope, will not only correct such interpretations by placing Appalachian conflict into the mainstream ofCivil War history but also stimulate additional research which will reach fruition in a comprehensive history ofAppalachia's Civil War. While the eleven original essays in this volume concentrate on the Southern mountains at war, several writers carry their story into the postwar era by discussing the effect ofthe conflict on later generations. Readers of AppalachianHeritagewill be especiallyinterested in co-editorShannon H. Wilson's informative essay, which focuses on the roles ofBerea College and Lincoln Memorial University in post-Civil War Appalachia. Five of the essays cover EastTennessee andWestern North Carolina topics; Northern Alabama, Western Maryland, and Northwestern South Carolina are not represented. Collectively, these eleven essays explode once and for all the myth ofa monolithic mountain Unionism and will, hopefully, drive that idea from textbooks. The essays also reveal that mountaineers, whether opting for the Union or the Confederacy, acted from a multiplicity of complicated motives. Consequently, no consensus emerges as to why Appalachians chose one side or the other. Taken as a whole, however, these studies describe a complex matrix of loyalties remarkably similar to the experiences ofinhabitants ofnon-Appalachian borderstates: family connections, localism, geography, role models such as businessmen and planters, and traditions ofdissent harking back to the American Revolution. The Civil War in Appalachia is a major step toward placing the region in its proper context during a crucial part of American history and required reading for anyone interested in the region. -Marion B. Lucas Appalachian Coal Mining Memories: Life in the Coal Fields of Virginia's New River Valley . Mary B. La Lone. Blacksburg, Virginia: Pocahontas Press, 1997. 391 pages. $25.00. Coal and the lives of those who mine it continues to bring forth varied views. Some commentators stress the dangers ofthe mines and the tyranny ofthe coal camps; others emphasize the rewards ofthe work and the sense ofcommunity in those towns. It is a discussion that will not go away, nor should it. It speaks to the heart ofAppalachia. 69 Dr. Mary Burkleimer La Lone, an anthropologist at Radford University , sought to learn more about the coal culture she found surrounding her when she came to that school. She sent forth legions of students to conduct oral interviews with those who lived with black gold as part of their lives. Focusing on the New River Valley areas of Montgomery and Pulaski Counties in southwestern Virginia, those students used a set format , then departed from it to look at particular points raised by the interviewer . The results are partially printed in this work. In many ways the area under study was atypical for Appalachia generally , for it featured anthracite coal, and by the 1950s mining had virtually ceased, in part due to market demand, in part resulting from job opportunities at Redford Arsenal, built in 1940. But until that time, mining was not only the major employer, it was a way oflife. While the book begins with fifty pages giving a fairly standard overview ofwhat follows, the core ofthe work is the fifty-one interviews, edited and presented verbatim. They tell familiar stories of a miner's work day—up before dawn, dinner in the mines from a lard bucket or the like, the ever present gas and dust, and then a late return home. Usually the mines closed in the summer and the miners often operated small gardens or farms to help supplement the family income. During most seasons, women got up before their spouses to fix breakfast, then got the children ready for school, then likely sewed or washed or shopped or did some other needed task. For both sexes, the routine was varied chiefly by baseball games, church, or some community gathering. But that overview misses the point ofthe book, for it is all about people and their stories. While the approach is not new, and while the setting may be different only in part lies in the strength ofthe work lies in...