Former Gazette Writer Offers Definitive History On Black Miners in Alabama W.Va. Parallels Found in Post-War Experience

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pjnyden@wvgazette.com

Coal mines and steel mills around Birmingham, Ala., offered African Americans, many of whom grew up on plantations, opportunities to get higher-paying jobs, nicer housing and better schools.

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Former Gazette Writer Offers Definitive History On Black Miners in Alabama W.Va. Parallels Found in Post-War Experience

And unlike other major Southern industries, such as textiles, most miners and mill workers organized unions.

Yet throughout the 20th century, African-American Alabamans faced discrimination in the mines and mills. They were relegated to less- skilled jobs and lived in segregated neighborhoods.

Robert H. Woodrum, a Charleston Gazet...

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