Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners and the Struggle over Black Lung Disease

by Barbara Ellen Smith, Earl Dotter (Photographer)

Employment and production in the Appalachian coal industry have plummeted over recent decades. But the lethal black lung disease, once thought to be near-eliminated, affects miners at rates never before recorded.

Digging Our Own Graves sets this epidemic in the context of the brutal assault, begun in the 1980s and continued since, on the United Mine Workers of America and the collective power of rank-and-file coal miners in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields. This destruction of militancy and working class power reveals the unacknowledged social and political roots of a health crisis that is still barely acknowledged by the state and coal industry.

Barbara Ellen Smith's essential study, now with an updated introduction and conclusion, charts the struggles of miners and their families from the birth of the Black Lung Movement in 1968 to the present-day importance of demands for environmental justice through proposals like the Green New Deal. Through extensive interviews with participants and her own experiences as an activist, the author provides a vivid portrait of communities struggling for survival against the corporate extraction of labor, mineral wealth, and the very breath of those it sends to dig their own graves.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Research

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1987

About the author

Barbara Ellen Smith is professor of women's and gender studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Reviews

[Hamzah Randhawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm surprised at just how well it's updated from the original release. The rest of the modern struggling world could learn a lot from the Appalachian people, they go hard.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of Black Lung disease and activism in the U.S.

I thought the first half was engaging, but I felt myself losing some interest as I made more progress. I think maybe there were just a lot of names and acronyms to keep track of, and I found the personal and cultural aspects more interesting that all the legal battles. I do like that the book shines a light on this specific piece of history and tries to amplify the voices of people who have been affected by permanent disability because of this disease. The book also makes interesting commentary on how the idea of disease is constructed and defined by the medical and scientific establishment, which is influenced by the social and political environment. It was interesting (but also sad) to learn how mining companies and the doctors they employed were willing to let these people slowly die just to keep profiting off their work and how the origins of the disease were blamed on the victims themselves in order to justify everything.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written and documented history of Black Lung Disease and the toll it has taken on miners. Definitely a “we can show you better than we can tell you” accounting of the bleak reality imposed on miners by politicians, medical professionals, and most of all, the capitalist mine operators who profit enough to pay off of the first two while using jobs that can literally kill people to get miners to betray their own best interests. Very academic by nature, so sometimes pacing was an issue, but highly recommended and likely to be a frequent reference point for me for a long time.

[Maddie Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading the entirety of this book, not only was I faced with the reality of my own ignorance on this subject, I was faced with a new set of questions. How much more are these coal miners suffering today? While this book is yet a complex read, it becomes worthwhile when I realize we can become part of the change. The miners who have died previously in these accidents have stood still In order to see how far we've come to give them the safety they've yearned and fought for. This is a very well-done piece of work, and I'm glad I was able to read a unique part of history.

[Justin Leroux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unionize your workplace.

[Scott Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an updated version of her 1987 book. Lots happened in the past 20+ years to add to the story. She shows the interaction of miners movements, the UMWA and the Coal operators as well as the government to press for improvements in the mines and compensation for miners. The story shows clearly that social movements are what makes the difference and that black lung is a social and political issue, not just a technical one disputing what causes it or the definitions. A very interesting history of a disease and a movement, as well as a labor history.