Black in Appalachia, May 3, 2020
Black in Appalachia details the history of the establishment of coal camps & towns in the Eastern Kentucky coal fields & the in migration of African American laborers to the Mountain. With interviews from current & former residents of the region & scholars Philip J, Obermiller, Tom Wagner & Karida Brown, we follow the stories of these Black families through day-to-day life, out migration & the founding of the Eastern Kentucky Social Club. Founded in 1969, the EKSC is perhaps one of the longest standing African American organizations dedicated to solely social purposes. See: https://www.blackinappalachia.org/eksc
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about Black people in the Appalachia region o the United States.
This post showcases a YouTube video about Black people in Appalachia and includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/setting-record-straight-about-black.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents information about the term "Appalachia" and presents excerpts from several online articles about Black people in Appalachia.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the cultural legacies of Black people in Appalachia and thanks to all those who are associated with the Eastern Kentucky Social Club. Thanks also to all those who are associated with this showcase video and all those who are quoted in this post.****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.)
2020
1. FET Engineer
"My family & ancestry arrived to Madison County, Kentucky
in 1790. We are tri-racial people from Port Tobacco, Charles County, Mayland.
Today my family on average is 60% African and 40% European with Native
American. My father's side is from Jackson, Ross and Gallia County in Southern
Ohio which is also in the Appalachia region."
**
Reply
2. riverbilly64
"I find your post interesting. My Black ancestors are also
from Maryland and I’m also from Southeastern Ohio."
**
Reply
3. harold Denton, 2021
"Lots of melungeon tri racial folks have been living in
cumberland,ky and on over into blackwater,va community and over into
sneedville,tn in Hancocke county,County,. They came out of the eastern parts of
virginia and North carolina by the mid to late 1770's."
**
4. Rebecca Mæd
"I need help! My dad’s family are from Floyd and Pike
counties and I can trace my white and Native ancestors but haven’t found
anything on my African DNA. I know my ancestors hid a whole lot of things but I
am so stumped. Anyone else in the same predicament?"
**
Reply
5. Cashh Washington
"U got african in u?"
**
Reply
6. Rebecca Mæd
"Cashh Washington yes...Bantu, Congo. I am also descended
from the 1619 First Slaves in America. I know my earliest line but I still
don’t have records for my closest African ancestors. I suspect there was some
cheating or claiming of a father who wasn’t the father because my great grandma
Lena looked a whole lot like Rosa Parks. Very uncanny to meet Rosa and see your
great grandma especially since my great grandma came from some super white
looking people. The Mullins though are known to be “Melungeon” and didn’t care
if you were African or Native. Sadly though I have no records showing. I do
have African American (DNA confirmed) 4th cousins who don’t share known
ancestry but their ancestors are from my great grandma’s area. We’ll figure it
out soon enough."
****
2021
7. Jessica T.
"Born and raised in Lexington, KY and still here. I made it a point to interview my aunt, who is 95 years old, about my family's history here in Kentucky. I wished I'd talked to so many more of my elders while they were here. Some much black history/my history that I will never find in a book. Thank you for posting this documentary. It's a gem."
**
8. Bey11ktb
"Great job of documenting this part of the bluegrass states
history! I didn’t think there were any blacks in Kentucky."
**
Reply
9. Errol
"Bey11ktb
Kentucky was a slave state."
**
Reply
10. suprsnips, 2022
"@Errol , Kentucky was a slave state, but it wasn't part of the Confederacy."
**
Reply
11. lorie mills, 2022
"@suprsnips are you sure about that? I thought part of it was confederate. Didn't brothers and families in ky fight against one another because it was split? If not I was taught wrong."
-snip-
Here's some information on this subject from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_in_the_American_Civil_War
"This article is about events within the borders of the state between 1861 and 1865. For the former government in exile, see Confederate government of Kentucky.
Kentucky was a border state of key importance in the American Civil War. It officially declared its neutrality at the beginning of the war, but after a failed attempt by Confederate General Leonidas Polk to take the state of Kentucky for the Confederacy, the legislature petitioned the Union Army for assistance. After early 1862 Kentucky came largely under Union control. In the historiography of the Civil War, Kentucky is treated primarily as a border state, with special attention to the social divisions during the secession crisis, invasions and raids, internal violence, sporadic guerrilla warfare, federal-state relations, the ending of slavery, and the return of Confederate veterans.[1]
Kentucky was the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, his wife Mary Todd, and his southern counterpart, Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Lincoln had declared, early in the war, "I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game."[2]
35,000 Kentuckians served as Confederate soldiers; an estimated 125,000 Kentuckians served as Union soldiers.[3] Approximately 24,000 Black Kentuckians, free and enslaved, served as Union soldiers."...
**
Reply
12. MBFMTalkLive
"PADUCAH, KY born & raised. SALUTE to the Black Appalachians This was an excellent "peace" of work. Thank You. p.s. YES, there are black people in KY. Lol"
**
13. Teresa Taylor
"Wow I grew in West Virginia Bluefield I would love to see something about that most people think there are no black hillbillies but yes there are and thrive no incest nor ignorance when I moved to Ohio at 16 I was put up a grade and I was so much further ahead of them I only had to take one class😁huh""
**
14. William Matthews
"FROM MAYFIELD KENTUCKY. SHOUT OUT TO THE BLACK PPL IN APPALACHIANS"
**
Reply
15. Linda Mae Mullins
"❤️"
**
Reply
16. DeHart Family
"Shoutin back, from East Tennessee."
**
17. pj roe
"Very good documentary never thought about black miners and
very impressed with attitude of the Steel companies to create a balanced
environment for all people with the same wages just what many people wanted
equal pay for work but I am sure there were some inequalities"
**
18. Isaac Hill
"Shout out to the Hill family. Descendents of Black, Gates,
Pennsylvanian Coal Miners..."
**
Reply
19. Isaac Hill
"Gates Hill's are Cleveland Hill's"
**
Reply
20. Linda Mae Mullins
"❤️"
**
21. Brother Jamil
"Fascinating! Is there anyone here who remembers anything about Middlesboro? My family were the Carsons, the Balls, and the Ramseurs…"
**
Reply
22. Brother Jamil
"We migrated to Cincinnati in the 1930s, except for the Ramseurs (Aunt Gladys and Cousin Kyle) who stayed in Bell County."
**
23. Black in Appalachia
"Good Morning Brother Jamil. Those names sound familiar.
Please take a peek at these school records from Middlesboro's Lincoln School.
Some of them have photographs:
https://blackinappalachia.omeka.net/collections/show/50"
**
24. Wilson's Channel and More. Aka Jason Ryan Wilson
"I live in Bell. They had an all black high school back in
the 50s in Middlesboro. Every summer the descendants of Lincoln high always
comes back to Middlesboro for a reunion.I go every year, and always have a
ball. Drinkin, smokin, cookouts, and a lot of dancing! My favorite part? It's
listening too the elders talk about their struggles and how they persevered. If
the youth only knew their struggles!"
**
Reply
25. Kaleah Collins
"Are you part BLACK yourself?"
**
Reply
26. Wilson's Channel and More. Aka Jason Ryan Wilson
"@Kaleah Collins no. Part Cherokee and Irish. But my father
was a cop back in the 70s and his partner was black and my godfather. When I was
a baby. My father passed at 34 from a heart attack. They're isn't gonna be a
high school reunion due to covid."
**
27. Terri T.
"Wow! I never knew their were black coal miners and let alone
in the Appalachian Mountains. Thank you for this awesome documentary. I would
really like to research one for black railroad workers that were not Porters.
My great grandfather was a worker and built the house I now have."
Reply
28. Lies, damn lies, and stats Weird
"
29. Thomas Stevens
"I am Kentucky born growed up in Kentucky. My daddy worked in the coal mine. When I got old enough I went to work in the coal mine. Worked with some black men in the mine. We watched after each other like brothers. It sad to hear that when the miners left work they were separated. When will finally unite as one. We have always been divided to conquer. Truth to power"
**
30. Bey11ktb
"
-snip-
"HBCU"= Historical Black Colleges & Universities
Here's information about the two HBCUs in Kentucky:
from https://www.wdrb.com/news/new-highway-signs-to-recognize-kentuckys-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/article_19698f6a-31cd-11ec-bd8f-a32ccc46e150.html
..."Louisville and Frankfort are home to the only two historically black colleges or universities in the Commonwealth: Simmons and Kentucky State University.
There will never be another historically black college or university, because to qualify, the institution had to have been in existence before 1964."...
**
Reply
31. B J Williams
'hbcu 's were created at first as Normal Schools to teach ex-slaves to read and write, to prepare them better for share-cropping. I graduated from Kentucky State in 1967...its now 1/2 white. Born in Harlan, grandfather worked in Lynch mines, he passed of black lung around 1964. In California for decades now, retired---grew up with Jim Crow Laws--separate schools, back of the bus, lived in 'colored' section of town--they tore it down. We had our churches and schools, also a few businesses. You were still very safe growing up...one of my great nephews couldn't understand how I grew up with no hot water in the house, my son when he was little couldn't understand no tv. Owell..everything is on youtube, reflections. Stay safe, I took the vaccine, believe in science.. ;)
**
32. Airashii The Empress
**
32. Victor Thomas
"Nice ADOS History"
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Descendants_of_Slavery for information about the ADOS movement. Here's a quote from that page:
"American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) is a term referring to descendants of enslaved Africans in the area that would become the United States (from its colonial period onward), and to the political movement of the same name. Both the concept and the movement grew out of the hashtag #ADOS created by Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore.[1]
The ADOS movement focuses mainly on demanding reparations for the system of slavery in the United States.[2] They want colleges, employers and the federal government to prioritize ADOS and argue that affirmative action policies originally designed to help ADOS have been used largely to benefit other groups.[2]
Supporters of the ADOS movement say they should have their own racial category on census forms and college applications, and should not be lumped in with other Black people—namely modern Black African immigrants to the United States and Black immigrants from the Caribbean.[2]"...
**
"
**
34. Nappy Scribe
"Let’s see, Bill Withers was from a coal mining city. I know Bill’s city had a funny name."
**
Reply
35. myradioon
"I know he was from West Virginia. "Grandma's Hands" is a great song."
-snip-
Here's some information about Bill Withers from William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician.[2] He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me" (1972), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Lovely Day" (1977) and "Just the Two of Us" (1981). Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for six more. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill.[2] Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.[3][4] Two of his songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[5]
[...]
Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small
coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, on July 4, 1938.[6][7] He was the
son of Mattie (née Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner."...
**
36. Juan Pueblo
"Her mother had to FETCH Rain water with an ENVELOPE so that
her BLACK KIDS could have some water to DRINK...
The EVILS of SEGREGATION....."
***
37. Pharoah 1
"Is this the baskketball coach Bernie Bickerstaff?"
**
Reply
38. doug jones, 2022
"Yep"
-snip-
Here's some information about Bernie Bickerstaff from :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Bickerstaff
"Bernard Tyrone Bickerstaff (born February 11, 1944) is an
American basketball coach and front office executive, currently serving as the
Senior Basketball Advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers.[1][2] As a coach, he
previously worked as the head coach for the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, Denver
Nuggets, Washington Bullets/Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats, and Los Angeles Lakers.
He has also been an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers,[3] Chicago
Bulls,[4] Los Angeles Lakers, and Cavaliers. He has served in numerous other
NBA front office positions, and has been a consultant for the Harlem
Globetrotters.
Early years
Bickerstaff was born in Benham, Kentucky, where his father
and grandfather worked in the coal mines.[citation needed] He often had to
endure open racism.[citation needed] He attended East Benham High School, where
he was the starting point guard of the basketball team.[citation needed]
After graduating in 1961, Bickerstaff moved to Cleveland where he had relatives, with the idea of joining the Army, but he instead accepted a basketball scholarship to play for Rio Grande College. The racial tension he experienced during his time playing there made him leave school early and head back to Cleveland to work in a steel mill.[citation needed] However, the difficult working conditions prompted him[citation needed] to accept a second opportunity to play college basketball at the University of San Diego from 1964 to 1966. As a senior, he was named team captain and MVP, when the Toreros finished 17–11 and went on to play at the Small College Regional Playoffs. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity."...
**
39. Samantha Oden
"My family (Oden) is from McRoberts originally from Alabama.
These stories sound familiar because my dad and his siblings often told us
about growing up in this area."
**
40. Christie Bussey
"Aww this is such a BEAUTIFUL thing!! At the time ... '50 years' of
Community/Family ties! SEKHA reunion, NICE! Continuous Blessings of longevity
for the Descendants of the Eastern Kentucky Coal Miners!! I certainly enjoyed watching this
docu-storey, and even though I am not from Kentucky this story warmed my heart.
Keep the Legacy ALIVE!! :)"
**
41. Roderick Wilson
"Great story my grandfather Robert madison worked in the xoal
mines in Appalachia birch west Virginia a bridge town across from eastern
Kentucky. He brought my great grandmother freedom from sharecropping. 1919 to
1921 my uncle Napoleon Madison sr was born in birch west Virginia"
**
41. Rock Hammer Demolition
42. Mike Materne
"
**
43. S J
"I’m from a Coal Mining Town in WV. The middle
school I attended was actually built as a segregated school for black students,
the coal camp they lived in was called String Town. When the mines shutdown the
black population moved away. My family also moved away to Chicago."
**
44. Abdus Luqman
"Wow, this so interesting. I never heard of this part of
African-American history."
**
Reply
45. "Greedom Worldwide
"*Foundational Black American History"
**
Reply
46. larry jones
"A truly epic tribute to a people, and their
culture/heritage. It would be an absolute
tragedy if their story is allowed to be forgotten, or loss. It really
moved me, and to my knowledge, I have no connection to anyone from that
region...may you continue to strive. Be Blessed and thanks for such a beautiful
story."
**
Reply
47. Jerome White
"I really enjoyed this program. The history of Eastern Kentucky from the African American perspective was AWESOME. I lived in Pikeville, Kentucky for approximately five years and I am a good friend of Pastor Peake of Fleming, KY. While living in Pikeville, I was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church. I love Eastern, Kentucky and the loving spirit of people there. Thanks for such a great documentary."
**
48. Deanna
"I’m from Perry county/Hazard in eastern KY. My dad worked in the mines. Oh I loved watching this documentary. I had no idea that there was ever that many black people in eastern Kentuck at any time. I never lived I. A coal camp because my dad got disabled in 1957 when I was five years old. What a wonderful group of people"
**
49. Alan Taylor
"Most people don't realize this but Madison County, Kentucky is within the Appalachian region and is called a transitional county so, I'm here representing all the black families of Madison County, Kentucky. My family is from Foxtown & Berea area starting as far back as the late 1700s. Census Tract 102, in Madison County, Kentucky, is designated as a distressed area in fiscal year 2021 because it has a median family income of $46,250 (62.5% of U.S. avg.), a poverty rate of 34.0% (241.6% of U.S. avg.), and mentioned earlier is located in a transitional county. It has a population of 3,991 (Census ACS, 2014-2018)."
**
50. Mali Rabbit
"This is a great documentary! My folks are from Mississippi . Women in the coal mines! Dang, I just learned something! I just subscribed to the channel and the podcast. Live long and prosper, y’all ! At 48:30, is that Alex Haley ? P S, I want to cry happy tears!"
-snip-
Here's some information about Alex Haley from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley
"Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February
10, 1992)[1] was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The
Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of
the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million
viewers. In the United States, the book and miniseries raised the public
awareness of black American history and inspired a broad interest in genealogy
and family history.[3]
Haley's first book was The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
published in 1965, a collaboration through numerous lengthy interviews with
Malcolm X.[4][5][6]
[…]
Early life and education
Alex Haley was born in Ithaca, New York, on August 11, 1921, and was the eldest of three brothers (the other two being George and Julius) and a half-sister (from his father's second marriage). Haley lived with his family in Henning, Tennessee, before returning to Ithaca with his family when he was five years old. Haley's father was Simon Haley, a professor of agriculture at Alabama A&M University, and his mother was Bertha George Haley (née Palmer), who had grown up in Henning. The family had Mandinka, other African, Cherokee, Scottish, and Scottish-Irish roots.[7][8][9][10] The younger Haley always spoke proudly of his father and the obstacles of racism he had overcome."...
**
51. ThatOtherDebra
"My Dad was a UMWA coalminer. He was a good man. These men
are correct, regardless of color, you're all family in the mines."
**
Reply
52. KingofGrace
"Why can't it be that way above ground?"
**
53. Pamela Flores
"I love the clip of this where the man
says " their was no Black, no white
under ground, only family " that's
the way it should be. Why is it so hard for all people to be as one?"
**
Reply
54. Chelsea P
"You didn't hear the part where they
talked about how the town was socially controlled by those in power to stop
unions, or stop striking? Their are people in every town making sure racism
persist for the points of control. Only God can stop this."
**
55. Indigo Flow
" @Chelsea
P Indeed. Racism is a byproduct of
capitalism."
**
56. Tyrelle Greenwood
"Wow great video well put together documentary never realized
this about Kentucky very interesting coming from a south western pa native."
**
57. Marie Katherine
"Thanks for this video.
I love Appalachia and the history, but the black experience of the
region is something of which I know little to nothing! Naming a town Lynch, however, not so good."
Reply
58. Dcain2
"
**
Reply
59. Marie Katherine
"@Dcain2
I get it. It still has not the best connotation."
**
60. Jessica Webb
"This is awesome am bi racial my mother is black my daddy is white and my roots go back to Harlan bell County Arjan Frakes and on both sides my grandfathers on both sides the white and black and my father was a miner man his father was a superintendent love my roots and I ve seen it from both sides both races proud where and who I come from"
**
61. Linda Mae Mullins
"❤️"
****
2022
62. Anicia Lugo
"This is True BLACK HISTORY that I didn't know about 😎😃👑❤️"
**
63. suprsnips
"I lived in Lynch, Ky until I was 12 years old. I was a white
kid, on a street where the black kids walked by my house on the way to school.
They were all well dressed, and clean, and all carried their books home at
night. I have to say, they put us white kids to shame. Lynch residents were
kind of a melting pot from all over, we had black folks from Alabama,
hillbillies from the mountains, and people from over 30 countries in Europe.
With a few exceptions, we seemed to get along with each other pretty good."
**
64. BassMonsterTiff
"That penny with a hole in it, the coal miner credit token… my great grandma used to say stuff like “that man aint worth a penny with a hole in it!” And i never knew what she meant lol"
**
65. Donell Green
"Wow my grate grandfather told me about the skinny guy that
pick yu up and carry yu to Lynch Kentucky from Alabama my Grate grandfather was
a part of the story that these people are telling him only and I’m fortunate to
sit back and hear it"
**
66. Melissa Richter
"Be nice to do a follow up interview with these same people
to see how they feel today. My guess is this was taped in 2009-2010."
Reply
67. Black in Appalachia
":) These were conducted 2018 – 2019"
68. Deon Sellers
"My family on my mother's side were in Appalachia(KY & TN) for generations pre-civil war.Some in KY were completely non black & up until the mid-80s we visited them every summer.Some of our Black relatives lived at the bottom of a holler all in a row.My great-relative lived in the middle of a hollar,he had a phone so he was the most popular person there.lol The story always went 'migrants were racist,we're all kin'.I've heard of bad experiences but maybe we never saw it because we were related.Appalachians are some of the sweetest people I've ever met.Everybody used to talk about the Black migrant "towns" who came back in the day.I'm so glad this video popped up on my feed."
**
69. WILL F.
"Great documentary. I learned a lot from the video about the genesis of the migration of folks to eastern Kentucky and the motivation behind it.
Also the migration map that was briefly shown was right on
point. It correctly showed the path of the mass migration of my family, who were slaves and then
sharecroppers/cotton pickers in South Carolina,
up the now I-95 corridor to DC,
Philadelphia and New York which happened in the 1920s through the 1940s.
Thanks so much for your excellent work and I will pass it
on."
**
70. Dove leboeuf
"I'm from Eastern Ky. My grandfather bought coal trucks after he had worked in the mines, but preferred to drive coal trucks. So my daddy drove one. So my dads family was involved in the coal industry for a long time. My grandfather died from black lung. My grandfather said they were black men that worked in the mines when he did, he said he didn't ever have any problems working with them because they were just trying to make a living for they're families like he was. We were taught not to use the "N" word at a young age. We were told that wasn't polite to call black people names. That people couldn't help what color they was. Because my mom is bout 3/4 Cherokee Indian. So there was alot of people that was mixed with Indian blood so I guess Thats why they didn't think nothing working with blacks. Yeah the men watched out for each other because like the man said they were all underground together and it wasn't safe at all!!!"
**
71. Evelyn Parham
"This is an excellent documentary. I learned so much that I
didn't know."
**
72. P Junos
"nice documentary! i talk with my nana all the time about her growing up in burkesville/bowling green ky and my grandfathers fam being from virginia and how they moved to pennsylvania. puts alot of her stories in perspective."
**
73. Kenyata Sims
"This video was very well done and very informative‼️‼️‼️
**
74. Curtis White
"Thank you, this video has has help me understand questions I have always had of " How did my family migrated from the cotton fields of Alabama and Mississippi to the coal mines of Kentucky and eventually residents of NY and Pa."*
****
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