“Night Comes to the Cumberlands” recounts the harrowing circumstances endured by the people of eastern Kentucky, most known for their toils in the coal mines. Lawyer, legislator, and environmentalist Harry M. Caudill wrote the book in 1962. Appalachia is a beautiful place, and the story of the people from there should be carefully considered and respected. I listened to this book on Audible as part of my research for developing my body of work, ‘Into the Woods’ which enters into the psychological, spiritual space inspired by the region.
Stated in the author’s obituary in the New York Times, the book "focused nationwide attention on the plight of Appalachia's residents. President John F. Kennedy appointed a commission to investigate conditions in the region and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, made Appalachia a keystone of his War on Poverty.”
For between 50-100 years after the settlement of America, rural communities existed of illiterate people who synthesized their own worldview between Christian and native beliefs in the absence of institutionalized religion. Initially, timber bought for far less than its value tore away the inhabitant's sense of self-determination and self-sufficiency." During the modern era the people and the land were ravaged by corporate exploitation, specifically the coal industry. From rugged individualism to unbridled capitalism, a cogent societal base seemed reluctant to form for the majority of time that Americans subsisted in the Cumberland Plateau.
If the storming of the Capitol baffled you, or if you’re still perplexed by where Trump supporters come from, study the pockets of the country pillaged by corporate interests and inept government. In a vast region of America, a significant percentage of the population was maybe getting a middle school education through the middle of the 20th century. Corporate interests ensured their right to back breaking labor in the mines, but kept them ignorant of the value of natural resources on their own land. The ensuing welfare state obliterated the people’s drive to cultivate anything for themselves or to create normative family bonds. Much has happened since the book was written, but it doesn’t undo the depressing, paranoid, and isolated mindset informally created for this swath of America.
Caudill states in his book, “As the nation moves toward the challenges of a new century and a world ringing with change, it cannot afford to leave huge islands of its own population behind, stranded and ignored. Idleness and waste are antipathetic to progress and growth, and, unless the Cumberland Plateau is to remain an anchor dragging behind the rest of America, it and the rest of the Southern Appalachians must be rescued while there is yet time.”
A takeaway I have today: If someone cares for the environment, you should also care about the people whose livelihoods link inextricably to said environment. Caudill offers remedies that translate well for legislators, a vision of efficiency, preservation, and legacy for the American people. In our polarized view of progressive vs conservative politics, things like basic infrastructure, opportunity for all, and stewardship of our resources seem muddied by ideology and greed.
Thank you Amanda Snyder for taking the time to edit this essay.
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