First published 2024
In 1946, photographer Russell Lee travels across America's coal mining regions as part of a government survey team. The Truman administration has promised striking miners better conditions in exchange for returning to work. Lee's assignment: document the reality of life in mining camps through his camera lens. He captures miners emerging from dark shafts, families gathered around kitchen tables, children playing in company towns, and women competing in local beauty contests. Lee had previously photographed struggling farmers during the Depression for the Farm Security Administration alongside Dorothera Lange and Walker Evans. Now he applies that same unflinching eye to coal communities whose labor powers the nation's postwar economic boom. His detailed photographs reveal both hardship and joy, showing how these workers maintain dignity despite dangerous working conditions and substandard housing. Through Lee's journey from camp to camp, the book exposes the gap between America's prosperity and the lives of those who fuel it.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, photography, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: documentary, found-family, social-commentary
Setting: America, United States
Period: 1946, Great Depression, Postwar
160 pages · Hardcover · University of Texas Press