Nova and Dawson: The Union of North and South (2)

Hello Dear Reader,

My father's family migrated from Alabama to Kentucky in 1931. Alabama felt the sting of the Depression a decade before it was officially declared nation-wide in 1929. Daddy and his older brother, Otis, had worked as young teenagers in the Alabama coal mines and had picked cotton to help the family survive. Uncle Otis Bussey, not yet 20 years of age, paved the way for his family to leave Alabama in search of a better life. He found work in Kentucky at the Carr Fork mines, which also promised work to his father, my Papa Rufus Bussey, and to any of his brothers he brought to Kentucky. Otis returned to Dora, Alabama and brought the entire family and all their belongings to Kentucky.

Even though they brought Mama and Papa Bussey to Kentucky, Otis' new bride, Ora Sanford, would, from that day on, become the matriarch of the newly displaced family. Four brothers and five sisters made the trip. The older brothers worked a while at Carr Creek, then moved to the coal mining town of Wayland. Papa Bussey shoveled coal with the young men. The 16-ton song is true in that the men needed to average shoveling, by hand, 16 tons per day. Mother's brothers, who also worked in the Wayland mine, bragged on Rufus T. Bussey's work...said he "shoveled like a young man".

It was in Wayland that Dawson fell in love with my beautiful mother, Nova Hicks. He would never reach his youthful dreams of theatre life with music and dancing and good money. He hated the East Kentucky hills, but never left. He stayed and worked underground 34 years to provide for his beloved wife, Nova, and their six children.

In Wayland the men didn't earn real money. They worked in exchange for scrip. Scrip is a "temporary U.S. paper currency issued for temporary emergency use, e.g. by an occupying force" which could be traded at the company owned store. The miners were living in bondage to the Company. Mother said they were trapped.

Once again, Uncle Otis paved the way to better jobs working for Princess Elkhorn Coal Company Organization (PECCO), which promised real money in exchange for mine labor. PECCO was building a large mining operation in a remote area in Floyd County and needed men. In a highly controversial and progressive move, Uncle Otis persuaded Daddy and 5 other men from Wayland to go into the new camp. Among those leaving Wayland for the David mines were Tandy Bartley and A. C. Wilson.

Dirt roads had been cut, camp houses had been built--almost--there was still sawdust on the raw lumber floors in 1941, when Mother and Daddy moved in. It was just before the disruption of WWII and the young workers found pleasure and relief from their hard work on Saturday night. They played cards, drank a little, danced and enjoyed the promise of something better. Most of the miners stayed home to work during WWII to provide the vast amount of coal needed to fuel America's defense industries and the steel plants.

The community of David quickly grew into a community of more than 500 residents and also employed people from the rural farmlands. When fully developed, there was a company store, a fountain, a movie theatre, a church, a grade school, a playground, a Boy Scout cabin, a Girl Scout cabin, a Club House, where international coal buyers were entertained. PECCO built upgraded homes for the engineers and mine managers. Finally, to our delight, the company built a tennis court and swimming pool.

It was a double-edged sword. There was no need for the residents to leave the community. The adults were trapped but wanted their children to have these privileges, provided by David Francis, the benevolent president of Princess Elkhorn.

Because PECCO gave annual scholarships to the miner's children, I and several of my siblings were able to attend college. Daddy worked endlessly and mother stayed in the depressing environment to provide opportunity for their children. Mother used to say when asked why she didn't go away, "where do you go with six little children"?

Both my parents were born only 50 years after the end of the Civil War. Sentiments were--and still are--strong in Kentucky and Southern states regarding that War. Daddy was born in Alabama, a confederate state and Mother in Kentucky, a border state, Kentucky. Most of her family was Union but, there was also the “brother against brother” phenomenon.

Mother talked so often about the Civil War and the stance her family had taken. Daddy didn’t talk at all. My greatest influence was my mother and her greatest influence was her father. Her father's primary political influence was the impact of the War upon his family and the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln.

I study the significance of my parents’ cultural differences in order to understand the tragedies their union fostered. I find it important to ponder their lives.

Kentucky was an agrarian state before the war, but afterward the land had been so redistributed that few people retained the acreage critical for a farming economy. The education infrastructure, which had a promising status, was all but destroyed by the war. Many East Kentuckians opposed the mine barons who came into the area at the beginning of the 20th century, others welcomed the opportunity to make money.

The tension is still present in the coalfields 150 years later. My great-grandfather, Caleb Hicks, was a land owner and helped build schools in the remote areas. He ended up with little material wealth, but retained his high principles and values. All Mother's brothers would end up working in the mines. It was a tough choice--work for the coal barons, or go hungry.

I've often said the Depression in Alabama must have been horrible if Daddy's family came to Kentucky to find a better life working in the coal mines. The Depression was bad everywhere, but Alabama was one of the hardest hit areas. My father lived just south of Birmingham, the economic center of the state. Alabama was, by all accounts, the most economically depressed state during the 1920s.Many tenant farmers were reduced to picking cotton in exchange for molasses.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including large numbers of African Americans, migrated north. It's a sad irony to note that during the mass migration into Kentucky, hundreds of thousands of rural Kentuckians were migrating north to find work in the automobile, steel, and other related industries. There are still large Appalachian populations in both states, though many are trying to "get back home".

During early stages of the national Depression (1929-1933), both private charity and state relief were overwhelmed by the magnitude of suffering in Alabama. Families were disrupted. Poverty is relative, so it appears the Appalachian Coalfields looked good to Alabamians.

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times".

And that’s where my life begins.

Peace,
Judy

My Starting Point

Daddy (on left in 1958 photo made 1-2 miles underground) came to the East Kentucky Coalfields during the Great Depression. He worked as an underground coal miner for 34 years. I grew up in David Kentucky, a coal camp, in unique lifestyle that is now extinct. The Appalachian Arts and Crafts Store works with local artisans and natives to sustain remnants of the old lifestyle. The David School, located where the old sludge dam was has also revived activity in the old community and has had national recognition for its success with high-risk students.

In its hey-day, David represented a company-owned culture, within a rural Appalachian culture, and linked to a small "town" culture. I now study to learn how these concentric influences impact my life and my world view. I look at the social, economic, and political aspects of my historical influences. Daddy believed in hard work and Mother believed in education. I have pursued both. Education is one key to a higher quality of life; becoming educated was tied to hard work. My first "shock" at being Appalachian came when I heard my homeland referred to as " third world”. I was in a doctoral program at the University of Kentucky and listened defensively as I heard our cultural practices and language referred to as undeveloped and backward. My goal is to write and dignify my Appalachian roots in an insightful and honest way. I cannot ignore the hardships nor the dialect, but I also want to delve into the challenging psychological, personal and social issues of my people.