African American Miners and Migrants: The Eastern Kentucky Social Club by Thomas E. Wagner, Phillip J. Obermiller (review)

migrants, business concerns, competition, and pseudoscientific ideas abc„ it race combi ned to li m it African American educational opportunitics. In this Indiana wis not unique. Other northern state civil rights leaders ran into the sanic prc,blems alid resistance iii school desegregation. In this book, Thornbrough is particularly good at dealing with the delicate dance of tiegc, tiation, accommodation, and striving that ch. liacterize the middle class African Anierican comniunity throiigh the 1950s. She grasps how the subtle complexities of human interaction, personality, and perception influence itistitutions. But a few weaknesses maithe work. Rural African Americans receive mitch less notice iii this work, because c,f the lack c, f sc, urces and nuinbers. The work also has vcr, few details about the lives of individual zvorking class African Americans. While discrimitiation among draft boards and home front support are discussed, the impact of National Guard and other military experiences on Indiana African Americans receives rather superficial attention. This is probably because the work itself is a survey, ind this is an area in history that has received very little attention. Also,the author's style is very formal. A little niore oral history frotii working class individuals would have made for a more interesting bc, c, k. The last chapter,written posthuniously by Lana Ruegamer, Thornbrough's editor, is very different in tone.detail , and analysis from the rest of the book. This reviewer can't complain too much about the differe ,ice, because finishing a book for soineone else is a truly difficult enterprise. This work would be good for an upper division or graduate class in history,or for serious researchers . It is not accessible enough, in writing style or lexicon, for most general readers. Fc, r someone knowledgeable in African American history, this would be an excellent addition to a historical collection . Overall,Thornbrough's wellwritten ,dense account of the African Ainerican urban experience in Indiana in the twentieth century should be considered a good contribution to the field. FALL 2005 Selika M. DucksiuortbLawton Uilit, ersity of Wisco, isi, 1Eall Claire Thomas E.Wagner and Phillip J. Obermiller. Affican Anterica, i Mi, ters and Migrants: Tbe Eastern Ke, itucky Social Club. Afterword by William H. Turner. Urbana: Universin . of Illinois Press,20() 4. 158 pp. ISBN: 0252071646 ( paper), $ 20.00. ith a bold inagisterial strc, ke.African Ainerica , 1 Mi, iers a, id Migra/ its has enlianced our understanding of African Americati everyday living and black communitybuilding efforts in coal mining towns in the twentieth century. In a thor(, ughly researched ind elegantly written book abolit the struggles ot black Appalachian migrants in the towns of Benhaill and Lynch between 1910 and 1970,Thomas E. Wagner and Phillip ]. Obermiller examine the creation and de\ elopment of the Eastern Kentucky Social Club. In dc, ing so.the authors raise solne pro, ocative questioils regarding cc, nstruction of model coal towns in the Appalachian refjon, the inner workings of black coal mining comniunities,and the struggle to preserve collective memory iii similar industrial settings. Focusing on the coinmemorative activities of black Kentucky migrants who hailed from Harlan County, Wagner and Obermiller contend, " The members of the Eastern Kentucky Social Club have chosen not to disown their roots in Harlan County but to celebrate them." ( 2) Indeed, slavery, the creation of Appalachian coal towns, recruitment of African American newcomers to Benham and Lynch, and the 111encompassing influence of the coal companies in the Black Mountain communities provide the context for the opening chapters dealing with African American strategies of selfempower ment and institution building in Eastern Kentucky. According to the authors,corporations like Interna99 BOOK REVIEWS tional Harvester and United States Steel developed c () 1"11pally towns in Harlan County out of necessity rather than as a carefully planned inetropolitan area. The towns Ivere also created as a wny ot maintaining paternalistic coiitrol over every aspect of black life from the provision of h() using, utilities , and company stores, to the creation of social institutions. By the 19305.mine operate,rs in Harlan C: ounty had adjusted their strategies of control from paternalism to welfare capitalism in order to meet challenges wrought by fundamental changes in the American...