The Harlan Renaissance: Stories of Black Life in Appalachian Coal Towns
William H. Turner
West Virginia University Press
Unfolding through layers of sociological insight and oral history, The Harlan Renaissance is an intimate remembrance of kinship and community in eastern Kentucky’s coal towns. Turner reconstructs Black life in the company towns in and around Harlan County during coal’s final postwar boom years, which built toward an enduring bust as the children of Black miners, like the author, left the region in search of better opportunities.