Overview

"Made famous in the 1976 documentary Harlan County USA, this pocket of Appalachian coal country has been home to generations of miners--and to some of the most bitter labor battles of the 20th century. It has also produced a rich tradition of protest songs and a wealth of fascinating culture and custom that has remained largely undiscovered by outsiders, until now.They Say in Harlan County is not a book about coal miners so much as a dialogue in which more than 150 Harlan County women and men tell the story of their region, from pioneer times through the dramatic strikes of the 1930s and '70s, up to the present. Alessandro Portelli draws on 25 years of original interviews to take readers into the mines and inside the lives of those who work, suffer, and often die in them--from black lung, falling rock, suffocation, or simply from work that can be literally backbreaking. The book is structured as a vivid montage of all these voices--stoic, outraged, grief-stricken, defiant--skillfully interwoven with documents from archives, newspapers, literary works, and the author's own participating and critical voice. Portelli uncovers the whole history and memory of the United States in this one symbolic place, through settlement, civil war, slavery, industrialization, immigration, labor conflict, technological change, migration, strip mining, environmental and social crises, and resistance. And as hot-button issues like mountain-top removal and the use of ""clean coal"" continue to hit the news, the history of Harlan County--especially as seen through the eyes of those who lived it--is becoming increasingly important. With rare emotional immediacy, gripping narratives, and unforgettable characters, They Say in Harlan County tells the real story of a culture, the resilience of its people, and the human costs of coal mining."

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9780199934850

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<br> Alessandro Portelli is a scholar whose quarter of a century of listening to the voices of those he asked to speak has resulted in his truly hearing those voices...For its methodological uniqueness and rigor, as well as for its heart and soul, Portelli's book should be considered for required reading at both undergraduate and graduate levels. --Rural Sociology<p><br> They Say In Harlan County will stand as an important example of the craft of the oral historian for a very long time. Through its pages Portelli makes us aware of the power of oral history to remind us of our shared humanity, of the agency, pride and dignity of working class life. --OralHistory<p><br> In this unforgettable book are incredible first hand accounts of life and death, tradition and progress, love and struggle. Alessandro Portelli has done a wonderful job of presenting the stories of the most inspirational and fearless people I have ever known--the men and women of Harlan County. --Barbara Kopple, two-time Academy Award-winning director of Harlan County USA and American Dream<p><br> This work is a real gem; it is much-needed. For well over a century, this relatively small Appalachian county has been known across the nation, though seldom in positive ways. Portelli's skillful questioning brings out valuable outlooks and information on coal camps, paternalism, the miner's life, early unions, death underground, black lung disease, Depression times, and the bloodshed of the 1930s labor wars. The result is a sad, strong, powerful story of pathos and joy, of terror and courage, of villains and heroes. --James C. Klotter, State Historian of Kentucky<p><br> By allowing the people of Harlan County to tell their own stories, we can hear the hidden story of America. Alessandro Portelli gives us a deeper understanding of how democracy in America works. Portelli shows a much more complex, interesting, and tragic reality than the ideal set out in our pledge for liberty and justice for all. --Herb

Author Information

Alessandro Portelli is Professor of American Literature at the University of Rome-La Sapienza. He is the author of The Death of Luigi Trastulli: Form and Meaning in Oral History; The Text and the Voice: Speaking, Writing, and Democracy in American Literature; The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue; and The Order Has Already Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome, which won Italy's prestigious Viareggio Book Prize.

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