Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins by Robert K. Murray and Roger W. Brucker (review)

Virginia,led to her suspension from teaching duties fc, r an etitire year. ( 132) Garrison also cites other examples of retaliatory measures taken against her for violating the racial code of etiquette. but provides little insight into how she dealt with these assaults on a personal level. % he inakes it clear that she fc, und much spiritual strength in her Christian faith, but who besides her mother sustained her emotionally? The editors note the existence of these silences and gaps in Garrison s story. However, they fail to provide any context that might help in explaining these gaps, context that could have been established using interviews with Garrison's friends and acquaintances that are printed in the epilogue of this book. Moreover.the editors did little to situate Ciarrison's stc,n' within the laruer cc) ntext of women's activism, as the> did for the hist(, ry of the state of West Virginia and Appalachia in an " Historical A fterword." In spite of these flaws, Bickley and Ewen haven idea tremoidous contribution to the study of women' s activism in general, and African Americ. in wonien s activisni in particulan Through Garrison's life we are given a glimpse of what activism meant to black women living outside of urban centers, lacking ready access n human and economic * F res() urces. The editors therefc, re should be commended for recovering and making available the story of Memphis Tennessee Garrison. It is through our knowledge and understanding of the lives of women like Garrison that we can conie to understand the social, political, and economic iii ilicu in which racial and gender amsciousness came to be created, articulated, and transfc, rmed in early twentieth century America. Beverly A. Buitcblyons Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State Unit' el' Sity Robert K. Murray and Roger W. Brucker. Trapped!Tbe Story of Floyd Collins. 1.exingtc, n: University Press of Kentucky, 2003. 333 pp. ISBN: 08131() 1530 (paper), 11. 49. Trapped is tlie story of .in attempted resctie froni a cave in southern Kentuck> in 1925 that proved to be one of the three most Hellknown news er crnts in the years between W(, rld War I and World War II. In fact, only Charles Lindbergh's h istoric flight across the Atlantic in 1 927 and then the subsequent kidnapping of the Lindbergh family' s baby in 1932 received more attention in the inedia. News reporters and radio commentators from arotind the country flocked to a little outof the way Kentticki· t(, wn to relay the ordeal in minute detail. And what the> reported was a tale about Floyd Collins, a thirtyseven year old local cave explorer, who lived for sixteen days while resctie crews fc„ ight to release him from his entrapment. He eventually died fr() in starvati) n and exposure, but in the meantime, he became a folk hero to niillions of followers through accounts printed in newspapers and heard on the radio. Eventually,the scene took on a carnival atmosphere that hampered efforts to free Collins from his eventual tomb. Reporters , p1, otographers, law enforcement officials and rescuers mingled with crowds of curious onlookers that at one time reached close to ten thousand in numben Other problems also complicated rescue efforts ,especially a lack of leadership,uncoordinated plans and continual confusion among wouldbe rescuers. Trapped kept me on the edge of my seat. You know the ending but still read on in hopes that some miracle will happen. Just when you think all hope is lost and you come to believe the rumors of Collins death,vou are jolted by the reality that he is SUMMER 2004 71 BOOK REVIEWS alive and there is hope. In short,the story of Floyd Collins and his struggle tc) survive is we]1 written and well researched by men who know histc, ry and caving, and who h. ive enriched their story with contemporary newspaper acco, ints and with oral history ititerviews dinie with people connected to Collins and the rescue. The bc, c, k als(, includes a detailed description of the Sand Cave site based oti the authors'own explorations that helped theni to better understand and describe the confinement of a man pinned...