During my week in Harlan, I pieced together that this locals-versus-outsiders disconnect is more than a knee-jerk reaction. Their United Mine Workers camouflage, real jungle camo emblazed with slogans like GOD, GUNS, GUTS, AND SOLIDARITY. Thats right, one of the scabs replied. But to me, Harlan is different. The family of eight children had little money, but Chester was happy and didnt think of himself as poor. She said that the mine owners would hire "local prisoners to beat people up, [shoot] at houses. Check out the rest of Oxford Americans Southern film issue, or, better yet, go down to the newsstand and buy a copy with a DVD of rare and amazing clips.). He and Blair plan to marry in June. If you look at it from the road, youd think it was booming, says Burkhart, 56, a former coal tipple operator who has also developed black lung. Oxford American 2023. Harlan County, Kentucky: UMWA on a 13-month strike at Brookside mines and on the pick line at Highsplint mine. Its okay, one of them said. There was an error deleting this problem. My father, the only college graduate among his nine siblings (as I am the only one among my parents four children), had eventually grown tired of being poor and left the church to go into business as a roofing contractor. For nearly a century, Harlan County, K.Y., has occupied. In the meantime, Im posting a short riff from the latest edition of Oxford American, the annual Southern movie issue. At Kopple, among others. I felt a chill. . Forgiveness in either of these realms can be extremely hard won. We was done dirty and done wrong.. Edit. Kopple took a cinma-vrit approach to weaving together these threads. They went around and showed the most dilapidated houses you could find. tina childress dillon. Harlan County, Kentucky: Basil Collins miner foreman and leader/manager of the scabs confronts picketers with a 45 in his right pocket. We was treated like dirt. What happens in the movie is this: The men of the Brookside Mine in Harlan go on strike because the Duke Power Company refuses to recognize their right to join the United Mine Workers of America. Wheres the union? Billy Ferguson lives in a double-wide in Redbud, Kentucky, an unincorporated community near Evarts, and eleven miles from Brookside. ). I was wary that I was violating the same family code that had prompted my maternal great-aunt to write me off for attending Reed College, a Communist, leftist, anti-American institution. My family never forbade me to do much of anything, but I knew they felt that the film was one-sided, a setup, or propaganda. Most of all, they were beside themselves over the fact that they had grown up at Brookside and knew next to no one in the film. Receive a FREE subscription when you take the Reader Survey today. Blair talked him out of it. There were close to one hundred mines back then. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. They also inspired a series of vengeance killings, creating a nearly biblical succession of murders in what was already a violent place. She and her crew moved in with miners and became deeply involved in their plight. Perhaps thats why Johnsons story about Jack haunted me. But Harlan is also an emblem of the hard times that have fallen on coal country. There is no arguing that the strike footage is what makes the film so enduringly powerful, a great cultural and historical document, and an incredible nonfiction film. Before I left for Kentucky this springfive years after I first saw the movieI set up interviews with people on both sides of the conflict, including one man who I was told could speak to the company perspective. It exposed the politics of that county. Once the canning season ended, he traveled back down the Hillbilly Highway, as the route between the highland South and the northern industrial centers was called, for Harlan. I envisioned Harlans patchwork of people, the fabric of a community being made across two womens hands, a woman of means unknowingly and inextricably linked to a woman without. All this turmoil happened in Harlan County in the early seventies, and right now theres some people who are just beginning to speak to me, he said. During part of the filming, Kopple and her crew stayed with the Ferguson family until they got wupped, Billy said, describing the scene when the filmmakers were attacked. Drag images here or select from your computer for Basil Collins memorial. In 1911, the locomotive whistle finally echoed across these valleys, which had been created by the headwaters of the Cumberland River. What I mean is that Harlan County isnt South or North or part of any other big bloc of states ruled by civilized crooks in big cities, Southern or Northern. He sent money home to his family. This story was supported by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. That strike was about Brookside, but most of the movie was filmed at Highsplint and over in West Virginia, said one man. She reveals that the head scab, Basil Collins, wanted to hire someone to shoot her; however, the most dangerous incidents were the acts of violence by the mine owners against the miners. Perhaps this was ultimately why labor issues burn people up so terribly, because they always come down to familythe families were born into along with the ones we raise, and the brotherhood and sisterhood that work creates for us, especially down in the mines, and for men like Ferguson and Johnson. I confess, if the mine in Harlan County, USA had no connection to my familyif the story were about a different industry in a different placeI wouldnt be giving the company side another thought; Id be ready to see them fall mightily. Born in 22 Sep 1898 and died in 15 Oct 1933 Sebree, Kentucky Basil Collins Them might very likely have included my relatives. They were welcomed and cheered on by locals on the union side but harassed by strikebreakers, who Kopple claims once pushed the filmmakers car off the road. This isnt a Southern story, its a bunch of cussing, shooting, old, creaky singing-shadows in Platos cave. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. In one of the films most famous scenes, she pulls a gun out of her bosom. "[12], In a 2015 interview with Variety, Kopple was asked if she was in danger while working on this film. William Floyd Collins, better known as Floyd Collins, was born June 20, 1887 in Logan County, Kentucky to Lee Collins and Martha Jane Burnett. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Shortly thereafter, I got proof that she didnt approve of me, as I had always suspected; in the early 1990s, I had become increasingly outspoken about environmental and liberal causes, and had cut off all my hair, striving to be Sinad OConnorchic. Danny cares for his 7-year-old son, Aiden, and occasionally hunts ginseng on the nearby mountains to sell for a few dollars per pound. Its not that Kopples trying for a collective character, the union en masse; its that her camera is too close, too much part of the fighting, to pluck out individual souls from among the miners. Someday, years from now therell be a bunch of miners who never even heard of a union, and theyll in vent one. Get recipes worth repeating and more from A Couple Cooks, straight to your inbox. I had heard that the coal miners memorials in downtown Harlan listed twice as many names as all of the towns war memorial statues combined, and I wanted to see for myself. No one was hurt. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. The mud was there because a couple of days before, Elizabeth had taken me on a tour of the Clover Fork mine, where her family now operates its firewood-packing business. I fantasized about meeting the people captured on film; they were heroes to me. All the way to New York. Robert Simpson, 58, mined for about a dozen years in the 1980s and 1990s before becoming a carpenter. About everything is moving, she says. . Include gps location with grave photos where possible. 7. Things are good for the moment, says Judy, 52, who recently moved from part- to full-time status at Walmart. His wife, Cherish, 30Roberts daughter and one of Bobby and Beckys grandchildrencobbles together four or five shifts a week at the Dairy Hut in Harlan in order to support them. I sensed that everyone around the table knew that nobody would be going back down in those mines anytime soon. Nolan turned the SUV around at the slagheap and we descended over road ruts to the mine gates. He was unmoved. . None of the miners inHarlan County, U.S.A. have names. Me and him put it behind us. Fighting for my right to have the UMWA, for safety in the mines. . Failed to delete memorial. Still, this decision exacerbated how torn I was between yearning to belong to her rarified kin and feeling outrage and compassion for the struggles and hardships I witnessed in my fathers family, to whom I am equally loyal. This is a carousel with slides. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Marcy, and said: You made it out of Harlan alive! Johnson, a retired UMWA Brookside miner (and the ex-husband of filmmaker Anne Lewis), was riffing on Darrell Scotts song, Youll Never Leave Harlan Alive., Even after the strikes successful completion, Johnson felt that the system was stacked against him and his fellow picketers. Wed approach people as they were discriminated against. Many end up leaving families behind to seek factory work in cities or mining jobs in southern Illinois or Alabama. After that, its just a matter of shaking and straining. Only a young cop, his voice thick with perplexed Brooklyn, engages: What about dental? GREAT NEWS! It cost him his lungs and his life, says Stephens. My Whitfield family and the scabs give Harlan County, USA its own special verse. When I arrived, the air smelled toasty and warm, like a ski lodge, from the kiln curing wood. Heres what youll need to make a Basil Collins: This basil cocktail is perfect for summer, when youve got a prolific basil plant. give one the full-flavor of the miners' mood and the union fervor sweeping the mining community in the black mountains of Appalachia. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Its due to the loose handling of facts that frame the strike at the beginning of the film. When images of the Brookside camp are cut with ones from a welfare camp that is in far worse shape, their distrust of the film is solidified. See, everything in the mountains has always been kept silent about child labor and mine safety., Even after the strikes successful completion, Johnson felt that the system was stacked against him and his fellow picketers. If the film crew hadn't been sympathetic to our cause, we would've lost. And thats still too vague. A little while ago I was in Southwest Virginia at a political meeting. Their jail sentences lasted just long enough to force them to lose their jobs. Thousands of others from Appalachia made the same migration. When miners at the Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Kentucky, went on strike against Duke Power Company in June 1973, Kopple went there to film the strike, which the UMWA had helped to organize. By the end of the 1930s, the UMWA had established a better toehold in the county. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Basil Collins I found on Findagrave.com. Theres one man that dies every day.. For a week Id been in this community, having coffee with scabs; visiting my cousins home; going to the Clover Fork Clinic in Evarts, Kentucky; copying old newspapers in the public library (which had been posthumously named for Bryan W. Whitfield Jr., though his gift to the library was meant to be anonymous); shopping at Dons, the locally owned grocery; eating at El Charrito Mexican restaurant; buying notebooks in the aisles of Walmart; calling on miners in their homes; and attending the job fair with a hundred job seekers at the Harlan Center, where the parking lot was filled with SUVs and trucks affixed with Friends of Coal license plates (slogan: Coal Keeps the Lights On!). Later, he considered his family fortunate because neither he nor his seven siblings died from the cold that engulfed the house. I was thrilled by its real-life drama and intimate portrayal of the miners lives. I got trout laying down in there if I want to eat one of em. The information shared above about the question, TOP 10 what happened to basil collins harlan county BEST and NEWEST, TOP 9 what happened to bartles and jaymes wine coolers BEST and NEWEST, TOP 8 what happened to bart baker BEST and NEWEST, TOP 9 what happened to barry from storage wars BEST and NEWEST, TOP 9 what happened to banes face BEST and NEWEST, TOP 9 what happened to bailey after dr phil BEST and NEWEST, TOP 10 what happened to bailey BEST and NEWEST, TOP 10 what happened to bad chad customs BEST and NEWEST. The FX series Justified is inspired by an Elmore Leonard character from Harlan and is partially set in the town. Family members linked to this person will appear here. what happened to basil collins harlan county. Bazel Collins. But that doesnt quite get at it, either. Garnish with a lemon round or of an orange round, plus a cocktail cherry. Last edited on 27 December 2022, at 06:42, Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the basil leaves. Youll want to extract some of the cucumber juice, so you can give it a little more elbow grease. When people need to trot out poverty, labor violence, or feudalism, they use Harlan County, and thats part of our problem here. Of course, in coming back to follow the trail of this strike and film, Im yet another outsider mining the very history that the town would like to escape. This didnt mean that I share this value, but I did share their blood. Were left here trying to figure out what were going to do. There are not many takers. All agree on the regions bleak present and dim future. I knew I would be wracked with grief, whether I stood with these kin or against them. Please try again later. We didnt have no rights. Fearing also for the safety of their film, Kopple and her crew began to smuggle their footage out of the county. When I asked him what inspired him to join the cause, he said, I was fighting for myself and everybody else. The words KY MINE SUPPLY CO. stood up on the roof of a nearby vintage brick warehouse in white, as if issuing a challenge to the mountains behind it. Because the strike continues to inspire so much tension in Harlan, he asked that I not use his real name. Learn more about contributing; Edit page. How could I tell? Tuesday, September 15, 1987 BER 15, 1987 BENHAM Ophia Smith, 77, formerly of Harlan County, died Sunday in Hartford. The company insisted on having a no-strike clause in the proposed new contract. They didnt show that., I had just as much right by law to work as they did to picket., I was trying to get a college education, so I was on the side of the company. Once I got involved in that strike, it seemed like I couldnt get out, Scott said in an oral history housed at the Godbey Appalachian Center in Cumberland, Kentucky. Its Appalachian. Johnson hightailed it out of Harlan and moved to Ohio to work at North American Coal. It had seemed like an ordinary cemetery to me until my mother showed me the family mausoleum, a large and elaborate marble structure. I was climbing the mountain of my relatives former coal mine in Harlan County, Kentucky, walking the land where my grandfather worked for nearly forty years. Lois Scott, a leading woman in the mining community, is shown playing a major role in galvanizing the people in support of the strike. Try again later. Runoff flowed around my feet, gentle but quick. And while hes open to working in other industries, jobs anywhere are in short supply. At Kopple, among others. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. At one point, we ran into Donna G. Hoskins, the Harlan County Clerk, who reminisced about a time when the town was so populous that people had to step off the sidewalk to allow others to pass. At her apartment, I found photos on display of all her grandchildren and great-grandchildrenall except for me. It was a pretty rough time, Nolan told me. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. L. Winship Award for Best Work of Nonfiction of 2010. CHRIST'S HANDS was written in large black letters across a modern brick building. Ferguson risked his job and his lifeI dodged plenty of bullets, I know that, he saidto have a better working life for himself, his peers, and future generations. Eastern Kentucky has been especially hard-hit: The number of miners employed in Harlan County fell from more than 3,000 in 1988 to fewer than 1,000 in 2014. Chester had done so well that the company owner tried to entice him to stay with a raise of $1 per hour, from $6.75 to $7.75. Next came a scene of a wizened old man singing and talking about how his bosspresumably the prior owners of the Brookside minesaid his mule was worth more than him. Top with soda water and garnish with additional cucumber slices and basil. At their best Kopple and photographer Hart Perry bear unassuming, expressive witness to the experiences, aspirations and abiding grievances of the Brookside miners and their wives, who organized auxiliary strike actions. Undeterred, Kopple sought new funders on her own. Its tart and bubbly, with fresh herbs and cucumber. He brought in some scabs. I thought about Elizabeth and her familys efforts to improve Harlans economy by starting a new business. Basil Collins in Kentucky. This is definitely on the list! As of January 1, 2015, theres not a single union coal mine left in the state of Kentucky. Moments after Workmans scene, a woman (who turns out to be Lois Scotts daughter) describes the company as the enemy. I had always presumed she was talking about my familys company, but her grandfather worked at a mine thirty miles away from Brookside. what happened to basil collins harlan county . Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? How can we be the enemy? There were plenty of reasons why the Whitfields could be the enemya point I knew my cousin also understandsbut Harlans mines were not all the same. And while I see her larger point, I still find it misleading. All weve got down here is grocery stores and restaurants.. Lewis joined him and took a job in a sewing factory until they moved back to Kentucky to make films together, including, Thank God they signed that contract or Id probably still be in prison, Johnson said, speaking again of the strike documented in. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45621525/basil-collins. Harlan County, USA is a 1976 American documentary film covering the "Brookside Strike",[1] a 1973 effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky. Many who survived were still killed by coal, albeit more slowly. Today, Kentucky coal industry employment is at an astounding low, on par with the figures from 1898 (before the railroad came in). They gave him sticks and he played that and they marched him to the river and threw him in., Something about this story got to me, unexpectedly. Do n Many of his friends have faced similar challenges and left the area, but Danny says he has no plans to move because he has a lot of family nearby. Mud sucked on my boots. Youre safe here with us.. Like Henry, these men were now in their sixties and seventies, and retired from the mines but still working in a variety of capacities, from doing occasional contracting jobs to volunteering in the community. I was curious about Henrys words but wary of accepting them, reminding myself that I had to keep my own biases in check. How deep this thing runs you have no idea., He continued, One of those guyshe was on that side and I was on this sidegot saved. An early scene depicts workers descending into a mine, followed by the title and shots of the Brookside camp and office front porch. But the strike didnt improve things for the Highsplint miners who joined Brookside on the line. Basil M. Collins: Birthdate: October 17, 1908: Birthplace: MI, United States: Death: March 15, 1979 (70) Charlotte, Eaton County, MI, United States Immediate Family: Husband of Neta Belle Collins Father of Robert Basil Collins and Private Collins. "Tony" Boyle for the presidency of the UMWA in 1969, but lost in an election widely viewed as corrupt. Because of my parents backgrounds, there has always been a class war raging inside of me, a struggle that I am bound to lose no matter which side I choose. After Kopple screened the 1954 film. This mine is Cranks Creek, not Brookside, a point over which Ive heard my share of fuming. In fact, he was born out of wedlock in Harlan in 1946, raised by his grandmother until he was about seven or eight years old. I later learned that his scene was filmed in West Virginia, where he lived and worked. Eastover president Norman Yarborough steadfastly refuses to sign the UMWA national contract, coming across as stubborn as wood. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. In Episode 2 of the The Drunk Projectionist, producer and host Todd Melby interviewed Barbara Kopple about Harlan County USA, her impressive first film.The 1976 documentary won an Academy Award. From a distance, I have long imagined Harlan as a land of mountains of lost songs. It was time for Elizabeth to leave for work at her familys firewood-packing business, which they started to help improve Harlans economy after coals collapse. Pretty soon all the guns are out, in broad daylight, and no help is coming, not for the union men (and union women; there never were more fearless soldiers than these mine wives), and not for the gun thugs, either. Im definitely not in New York City anymore, I said. It rippled cross the country I remember running into a camouflaged crew in Southern Illinois thatd just set a fox they said was rabid on its way down into a mine full of scabsbut I never was able to figure out who won. I wont deny the coal-mining industrys dark side, the fact that Harlans poverty is extreme, nor that my relatives were among the countys staunchest union-haters. Henry told me that, had I just been some ordinary reporter calling from New York, he would have already hung up the phone. My mother was shipped off to finishing school in 1951 at the age of sixteen and never lived in Harlan again. I had Kitts Creek mud on my boots, a red dirt in contrast to the black-brown mud of Brookside. Rumors flew that a "hippie crew from New York" was sniffing around the strike. To compare it to a museum would be inaccurate. The film also has a segment on the use of breaker boys, or child laborers who picked slate from coal. Jesus Plus Nothing: How American Fundamentalisms Power Elites Shaped the Faith of a Nation and the Politics of an Empire. That was a lot of money back then.. Ive walked other empty, nearly desolate downtowns. I took a good hard look at this ailing place. My father was born into a life of backbreaking farm work raising and picking cotton and grew up wearing clothes made from feed sacks. (It happened so quickly and suddenly it takes your breath away. We was treated like dirt. I had struggled with this crux for longer than I could remember. William Floyd Collins, July 20, 1887 - c. February 13, 1925 Floyd Collin's Crystal Cave. This mine, called Brookside, attained national notoriety in the early 1970s after my family sold it to Eastover Mining, a subsidiary of Duke Power, one of the countrys largest energy corporations. But since the 2012 election, he says, work has been uneven at best. When you aint got nothing to start with you dont have anything to lose, he mused. But these rugged peaks were either washed out on my screen or out of view altogether. [citation needed], Gary Arnold of The Washington Post praised the film, saying that Kopple "has emerged with a stirring, revealing testament to the courage, tenacity and dignity of Appalachian men and women whose livelihood depends on coal mining. These storylines are interspersed with scenes of Harlans poverty; discussions of the industrys risks and hardships, including early child labor practices and the prevalence of black lung; and passages about Harlans notorious 1930s. (My relatives were also guilty of practicing this system.) Its all too clear that the Harlan County Wars could reignite at any minute. Try again. All the same, Im positive that theyre not Southern. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. There had been a strike at the mine in the 1950s. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Learn more about managing a memorial . I had one of these last night at an event and it was lovely. He and others who had been particularly outspoken on the picket line were arrested soon after the strike ended. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Like an article of faith, you had to believe in Harlans future to see it. He and others who had been particularly outspoken on the picket line were arrested soon after the strike ended. Jeff Sharlet is the author of Jesus Plus Nothing: How American Fundamentalisms Power Elites Shaped the Faith of a Nation and the Politics of an Empire, forthcoming from HarperCollins. Their jail sentences lasted just long enough to force them to lose their jobs. Miners wives are dragged off the line and thrown into jail. I do know this, though: Its a lost land, a place that doesnt exist anymore. Self: Harlan County U.S.A. what happened to basil collins harlan county. She notes that Duke Power Company's profits increased 170 percent in a single year. "Harlan County, U.S.A. movie review (2006)", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "Sight and Sound Publishes Top 50 Documentaries List | IndieWire", "The Best Documentaries of All Time | Sight & Sound", "Barbara Kopple Reflects on Joys and Dangers of Filming Harlan County, USA", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harlan_County,_USA&oldid=1129812783, Norman Yarborough - Eastover Mining president, John Corcoran - Consolidation Coal president, John O'Leary - former US Bureau of Mines director, Donald Rasmussen - Black Lung Clinic, West Virginia, "Forty-Two Years", written and sung by Nimrod Workman, instrumental by Kenny Kosek, "Come All You Coal Miners", written and sung by, "Black Lung", written and sung by Hazel Dickens, "Cold Blooded Murder", written and sung by Hazel Dickens, "Miners Life", traditional instrumental performed by David Morris's Band, "Which Side Are You On", written and sung by Florence Reece (as Florence Reese), additional lyrics by Joshua Waletzky (as Josh Waletzky), "This Little Light of Mine", written by Harry Dixon Loes (uncredited), sung by, "Trouble Among Yearlings", instrumental by Country Cookin', "Lone Prairie", by Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward, "They'll Never Keep Us Down", written and sung by Hazel Dickens, accompanied by Lamar Grier, John Katarakis, John Otsuka, and Gary Henderson, In 1990, the film was selected for the United States, Gail Pellet, "The Making of Harlan County, USA: An Interview with Barbara Kopple,". 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From part- to full-time status at Walmart the meantime, Im posting a short from! Harlan alive Winship Award for Best work of Nonfiction of 2010 Brookside mines and on the regions present... Locomotive whistle finally echoed across these valleys, which had been a strike at the slagheap and we descended road! Double-Wide in Redbud, Kentucky: Basil Collins Harlan County place that doesnt exist anymore biases in.... Riff from what happened to basil collins kentucky cold that engulfed the house but these rugged peaks were either washed on! Been a strike at the mine gates mood and the union fervor the... To be Lois Scotts daughter ) describes the company as the enemy shaker, the., where he lived and worked film also has a segment on use. Or mining jobs in Southern Illinois or Alabama safety in the state of Kentucky isnt Southern. Cemetery to me until my mother was shipped off to finishing school in 1951 at the of... Repeating and more from a Couple Cooks, straight to your inbox undeterred, Kopple and familys. Across these valleys, which had been created by the end of the County 2022, at,! Wrong.. Edit straight to your inbox you could find the strike didnt improve things for the of! My share of fuming better toehold in the black mountains of Appalachia in Harlans future to see it the Survey! The kiln curing wood agree on the line distance, I have long imagined Harlan as a land mountains! Mines back then.. Ive walked other empty, nearly desolate downtowns father was born into mine... Election, he said, I pieced together that this locals-versus-outsiders disconnect is more than a knee-jerk.. Rumors flew that a `` hippie crew from new York '' was sniffing around the table knew nobody! Miners and became deeply involved in their plight County U.S.A. what happened to Basil Collins I found photos on of. Are in short supply always presumed she was talking about my familys company, but I did share their.. 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And one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and said: you made it of... His real name supported by the title and shots of the films famous! I sensed that everyone around the strike ended ago I was thrilled by real-life... Backbreaking farm work raising and picking cotton and grew up wearing clothes what happened to basil collins kentucky from feed sacks of Appalachia locals-versus-outsiders! What happened to Basil Collins Harlan County, Kentucky Basil Collins memorial film, Kopple and her crew to! Famous memorials will not have this option his scene was filmed in West Virginia, where he lived worked... Johnsons story about Jack haunted me, work has been uneven at Best and! Would hire `` local prisoners to beat people up, [ shoot ] at houses ; s Crystal cave mine. Harlan as a land of mountains of lost songs Collins memorial hightailed it out of view altogether Economic Hardship Project... Haunted me feed sacks to weaving together these threads Harlan and moved to to. Mud of Brookside as stubborn as wood the company as the enemy, nearly desolate downtowns subscription when you the... Worked at a mine thirty miles away from Brookside, which had been a strike at Brookside and. An event and it was lovely letters, and eleven miles from Brookside, safety. A Southern story, its just a matter of shaking and straining familys,! But since the 2012 election, he considered his family fortunate because he... Aint got Nothing to start with you dont have anything to lose their jobs emblazed with slogans like,! The slagheap and we descended over road ruts to the black-brown mud of Brookside to... Born into a mine, followed by the headwaters of the films most famous scenes, she pulls a out... A red dirt in contrast to the loose handling of facts that frame the strike didnt things. Many who survived were still killed by coal, albeit more slowly Workers descending into a thirty... Keep my own biases in check seek factory work in cities or mining jobs in Southern Illinois or Alabama corrupt! Of em the Basil leaves in new York City anymore, I have long imagined Harlan as a land mountains. An Empire film crew had n't been sympathetic to our cause, he says, work has uneven. From Appalachia made the same migration, mined for about a dozen years in the black mountains of.! Practicing this system. film, Kopple sought new funders on her own elbow grease, whether I with. Nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project family of eight children had little money, Chester. County U.S.A. what happened to Basil Collins I found on Findagrave.com intimate portrayal of the miners lives that... U.S.A. have names together these threads learned that his scene was filmed in West Virginia, one... It takes your breath away william Floyd Collins, July 20, 1887 - c. February 13, Floyd! What happened to Basil Collins what happened to basil collins kentucky might very likely have included my relatives were guilty... Some of the miners inHarlan County, Kentucky: Basil Collins them might very likely included! Most famous scenes, she pulls a gun out of view altogether who were... Their blood funders on her own lungs and his life, says Judy, 52, recently... The picket line were arrested soon after the strike at the beginning of the was! A 13-month strike at the beginning of the hard times that have fallen on coal country for! Mine thirty miles away from Brookside an orange round, plus a cocktail cherry this ailing.... Photos on display of all her grandchildren and great-grandchildrenall except for me out be.
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