Download or read book West Virginia Tough Boys written by F. Keith Davis and published by . This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An impressive contribution to the annals of 20th Century American Political History, West Virginia Tough Boys: Vote Buying, Fist Fighting, And A President Named JFK by journalist F. Keith Davis is an amazing collection of reminiscences of West Virginia political kingpins and civic leaders during the heady 1960s. Tales of vote-buying, free liquor, fistfights over campaign strategies, and double-take inducing tales directly from the men and women who thrived in JFK's time, West Virginia Tough Boys is so candid it's hard to put down. -- Midwest Book Review

Download or read book Wonderful West Virginia written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tough Stuff written by Sam Huff and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1989-08 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is the real story of football's glory days, filled with down-and-dirty anecdotes by a man who tells it tough, straight, and true. Vintage gridiron bio: hard, colorful, and driving.--Kirkus Reviews. Martin's.

Download or read book Logan County written by F. Keith Davis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forged through time by varied cultures and numerous crises, Logan County provides an intriguing landscape that has nurtured equally intriguing people. In 1774, after the death of their beloved Chief Cornstalk, a tribe of Shawnee Indians led by his daughter, Princess Aracoma, settled into the area. From meager beginnings, the region began to grow, and in 1824, Logan County was formed and named in honor of Chief Logan, head of the Mingo tribe. By the late 1870s, during the height of the timber and coal industries, it was known as home to the Hatfields of the infamous feud. In 1921, Logan became the backdrop of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed labor confrontation in United States history. Logan County has had more than its share of coal mine disasters, labor uprisings, flash flood tragedies, and shady political shenanigans, but it has always been a naturally beautiful and, for the most part, peaceful place to live and raise a family. It has a fascinating past that is well worth revisiting.

Download or read book Blood in West Virginia written by Brandon Kirk and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Kirk’s marvelous tale of one of the bloodiest Appalachian feuds is a rip-roaring page-turner! . . . a good spirited read.” —Homer Hickam, #1 New York Times–bestselling author This riveting account is the first comprehensive examination of the Lincoln County feud, a quarrel so virulent it rivaled that of the infamous Hatfields and McCoys. The conflict began over personal grievances between Paris Brumfield, a local distiller and timber man, and Cain Adkins, a preacher, teacher, doctor, and justice of the peace. The dispute quickly overtook the small Appalachian community of Hart, West Virginia, leaving at least four dead and igniting a decade-long vendetta. Based on local and national newspaper articles and oral histories provided by descendants of the feudists, this powerful narrative features larger-than-life characters locked in deadly conflict. “Not only does Blood in West Virginia present a compelling narrative of a little known feud in southern West Virginia, it provides valuable insights into the local politics, economy, timber industry and family life in Lincoln County during the late 1800s.” —Dr. Robert Maslowski, President of Council for West Virginia Archaeology and graduate instructor at the Marshall University Graduate College “Tells a fascinating story that elevates the Lincoln County feud to its proper place in Appalachian and West Virginia History.” —Dr. Ivan Tribe, author of Mountaineer Jamboree “This book brings a deadly story to life. Author Brandon Kirk has done remarkable work in untangling the complex web of kinship connections linking both friends and foes, while detailing the social and economic strains of changing times in the mountains.” —Ken Sullivan, executive director, West Virginia Humanities Council, and editor of West Virginia Encyclopedia

Download or read book Moving Mountains written by Penny Loeb and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deep in the heart of the southern West Virginia coalfields, one of the most important environmental and social empowerment battles in the nation has been waged for the past decade. Fought by a heroic woman struggling to save her tiny community through a landmark lawsuit, this battle, which led all the way to the halls of Congress, has implications for environmentally conscious people across the world. The story begins with Patricia Bragg in the tiny community of Pie. When a deep mine drained her neighbors' wells, Bragg heeded her grandmother's admonition to "fight for what you believe in" and led the battle to save their drinking water. Though she and her friends quickly convinced state mining officials to force the coal company to provide new wells, Bragg's fight had only just begun. Soon large-scale mining began on the mountains behind her beloved hollow. Fearing what the blasting off of mountaintops would do to the humble homes below, she joined a lawsuit being pursued by attorney Joe Lovett, the first case he had ever handled. In the case against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Bragg v. Robertson), federal judge Charles Haden II shocked the coal industry by granting victory to Joe Lovett and Patricia Bragg and temporarily halting the practice of mountaintop removal. While Lovett battled in court, Bragg sought other ways to protect the resources and safety of coalfield communities, all the while recognizing that coal mining was the lifeblood of her community, even of her own family (her husband is a disabled miner). The years of Bragg v. Robertson bitterly divided the coalfields and left many bewildered by the legal wrangling. One of the state's largest mines shut down because of the case, leaving hardworking miners out of work, at least temporarily. Despite hurtful words from members of her church, Patricia Bragg battled on, making the two-hour trek to the legislature in Charleston, over and over, to ask for better controls on mine blasting. There Bragg and her friends won support from delegate Arley Johnson, himself a survivor of one of the coalfield's greatest disasters. Award-winning investigative journalist Penny Loeb spent nine years following the twists and turns of this remarkable story, giving voice both to citizens, like Patricia Bragg, and to those in the coal industry. Intertwined with court and statehouse battles is Patricia Bragg's own quiet triumph of graduating from college summa cum laude in her late thirtie and moving her family out of welfare and into prosperity and freedom from mining interests. Bragg's remarkable personal triumph and the victories won in Pie and other coalfield communities will surprise and inspire readers.

Download or read book Work with Boys written by and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book An American Vendetta written by T. C. Crawford and published by . This book was released on 2013-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Story of Barbarism in the United States. Initially published in 1889, An American Vendetta represented one of the earliest journalistic accounts of the now-famous Hatfield and McCoy Feud. During that time period, many across the country first came to hear of the story through the pages of this book. Besides telling the complex and bloody story of the feud-often in blunt and harsh terms-this volume, penned by New York World reporter, Theron C. Crawford, presents the only known interview with feudist Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield conducted in Hatfield's home in Logan County, West Virginia. At the time of Crawford's writings, the family conflict was at its greatest intensity. The brutal massacre at Randall McCoy's cabin by the Hatfields, which resulted in the death of two of his children, Alifair and Calvin, had taken place just months earlier, on New Year's Day, 1888. One week later, "Crazy Jim" Vance was killed by Hatfield archenemy, "Bad Frank" Phillips. It was in the shadow of this bloody backdrop that Devil Anse, during his interview with Crawford, stressed that he wanted peace with the McCoys-but had no intention of disarming or surrendering to law officers or bounty hunters. Peace, it turns out, was still a few years off. After many decades, American Vendetta, a Hatfield and McCoy Feud classic, is available again. T.C. Crawford's colorful interviews, his vivid description of the region, and the brutal feud accounts make this volume fascinating to read and a must for every library collection. American Vendetta is a valuable work of American history.

Download or read book Strange as This Weather Has Been written by Ann Pancake and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2007-09-10 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A West Virginia family struggles amid the booms and busts of the Appalachian coal industry in this “powerful, sure-footed, and haunting” novel with echoes of John Steinbeck (New York Times Book Review). Set in present day West Virginia, this debut novel tells the story of a coal mining family—a couple and their four children—living through the latest mining boom and dealing with the mountaintop removal and strip mining that is ruining what is left of their hometown. As the mine turns the mountains “to slag and wastewater,” workers struggle with layoffs and children find adventure in the blasted moonscape craters. Strange as This Weather Has Been follows several members of the family, with a particular focus on fifteen–year–old Bant and her mother, Lace. Working at a motel, Bant becomes involved with a young miner while her mother contemplates joining the fight against the mining companies. As domestic conflicts escalate at home, the children are pushed more and more frequently outside among junk from the floods and felled trees in the hollows—the only nature they have ever known. But Bant has other memories and is as curious and strong–willed as her mother, and ultimately comes to discover the very real threat of destruction that looms as much in the landscape as it does at home.

Download or read book Chicago Heights written by Charles Hager and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2018-07-12 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, ISHS Best of Illinois History Award, 2019 In this riveting true story of coming of age in the Chicago Mob, Charles “Charley” Hager is plucked from his rural West Virginia home by an uncle in the 1960s and thrown into an underworld of money, cars, crime, and murder on the streets of Chicago Heights. Street-smart and good with his hands, Hager is accepted into the working life of a chauffeur and “street tax” collector, earning the moniker “Little Joe College” by notorious mob boss Albert Tocco. But when his childhood friend is gunned down by a hit man, Hager finds himself a bit player in the events surrounding the mysterious, and yet unsolved, murder of mafia chief Sam Giancana. Chicago Heights is part rags-to-riches story, part murder mystery, and part redemption tale. Hager, with author David T. Miller, juxtaposes his early years in West Virginia with his life in crime, intricately weaving his own experiences into the fabric of mob life, its many characters, and the murder of Giancana. Fueled by vivid recollections of turf wars and chop shops, of fix-ridden harness racing and the turbulent politics of the 1960s, Chicago Heights reveals similarities between high-level organized crime in the city and the corrupt lawlessness of Appalachia. Hager candidly reveals how he got caught up in a criminal life, what it cost him, and how he rebuilt his life back in West Virginia with a prison record. Based on interviews with Hager and supplemented by additional interviews and extensive research by Miller, the book also adds Hager’s unique voice to the volumes of speculation about Giancana’s murder, offering a plausible theory of what happened on that June night in 1975.

Download or read book The Secret Life and Brutal Death of Mamie Thurman written by F. Keith Davis and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Senator from New England written by Sean J. Savage and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2015-06-11 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gold Winner for Political Science, 2015 Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards John F. Kennedy's path to the presidency began during his eight years of service in the United States Senate. In The Senator from New England, Sean J. Savage contends that Kennedy initially pursued a centrist, bipartisan course in his rhetoric and policy behavior regarding the regional policy interests of New England. Following his narrow defeat for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 1956 and his nationwide speaking campaign for Adlai Stevenson, JFK's rhetoric and policy behavior became more partisan and liberal, especially during the 1958 midterm elections. While JFK claimed that he still protected and promoted the policy interests of New England on a bipartisan basis, he used his speaking engagements to interact with Democratic politicians throughout New England in an effort to secure the entire region's delegate votes at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Based on the use of primary sources, archives, and special collections from four presidential libraries, the Library of Congress, Boston College, the Margaret Chase Smith Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and other institutions, The Senator from New England provides an unrivaled glimpse into Kennedy's Senate career and early presidential campaign strategy.

Download or read book Steel Drivin Man written by Scott Reynolds Nelson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Attractively illustrated with numerous images, 'Steel Drivin' Man' offers a marvellous portrait of a beloved folk song - and a true American legend.

Download or read book Lark and Termite written by Jayne Anne Phillips and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the award-winning author a "powerful and emotionally piercing" novel (The New York Times) set during the 1950 in West Virginia and Korea, that intertwines family secrets, war, dreams, and ghosts in a story about the love that unites us all. Lark and Termite is a rich, wonderfully alive novel about seventeen year old Lark and her brother, Termite, living in West Virginia in the 1950s. Their mother, Lola, is absent, while their aunt, Nonie, raises them as her own, and Termite’s father, Corporal Robert Leavitt, is caught up in the early days of the Korean War. Told with deep feeling, the novel invites us deep into the hearts and thoughts of Lark, on the verge of adulthood, and her brother, Termite, a child unable to walk and talk, who is filled with radiance. We are also with Corporal Leavitt, trapped by friendly fire alongside the Korean children he tries to rescue. We see Lark’s dreams for Termite and her own future, and how, with the aid of a childhood love and a spectral social worker, she makes them happen. We learn of Lola’s love for her soldier husband and her children, and unravel the mystery of her relationship with Nonie. We discover the lasting connections between past and future on the night the town experiences an overwhelming flood, and we follow Lark and Termite as their lives are changed forever.

Download or read book Who is Black written by Floyd James Davis and published by Penn State University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing primarily on Americans' views of blackness, Davis provides cross-cultural comparisons to demonstrate how other countries' interpretations of who is black vary. He details and closely analyzes the history of the "one-drop rule," which states that any person having at least one black ancestor is defined as black. He probes the social and legal consequences of this definition, and examines other ways of viewing who is black in the United States. Davis also includes an insightful look at black singer Lena Horne's struggles with her own racial identity. ISBN 0-271-00739-7: $25.00.

Download or read book How to Help Boys written by and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Last Mountain Dancer written by Chuck Kinder and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A colorful memoir recalls the author's journey of discovery back to his West Virginia roots, detailing his midlife odyssey to the region of his birth to recount the family stories, local legends and lore, colorful celebrations, oddball characters, and rich history of the region.