The Miner's Daughter by Gretchen Moran Laskas

Reading The Miner’s Daughter is like sitting on old, broken down porch steps, chatting with main character, Willa and her mentor, Miss Grace. The desolation of Riley Mines, a coal camp in West Virginia where the pair meets, is so authentic that the reader is literally taken to that place. At any moment, one expects little sister, Seraphina, to crash through the door or older brother, Ves to amble up the road, Daddy trailing behind, coughing from coal dust pneumonia.

Sixteen-year-old Willa’s life is a bleak one. As predicted, FDR’s election spells the shutdown of the coal mine where her father and brother worked. Her mother, weakened in both body and spirit by a recent childbirth, is unable to cope with the daily rigors of running a family under such austere circumstances.

The burden falls onto Willa, and while she rises to the challenge, she finds frustration by the monotony and seeming futility of trying to make right in a company town that is square set against her and her family.

Her world changes when Miss Grace comes to town. Miss Grace introduces Willa to books; not just the love of reading, but also the language of the written word. Through Miss Grace, Willa comes to understand that stories have powers that reach beyond entertainment or merely passing the time away.

Author Gretchen Moran Laskas does an amazing job of weaving excerpts from literary classics into Willa’s narrative to convey the connection in a Depression era setting. At one point, when Willa is determined to find fieldwork, her only option for income, Willa likens herself to Jo March, from Little Women, cutting her hair and taking on a boy’s persona – the only way to land work when employment was so scarce only men earned the right to hold a paying job.

Her use of Poe’s Eldorado, a poem Miss Grace describes as meaning, ‘perfect place’ takes the story full circle when Willa and her family actually move to Arthurdale. When Willa first reads the poem, about a man looking for utopia, she’s still in Riley Mines. Her idea of utopia is nothing more than freeing herself from the monotony of daily chores and financial worries. But once her family moves to Arthurdale, a utopian-type homestead community of Eleanor Roosevelt’s nurturing and one her family is chosen to join, she finds that the idea of utopia has many shades of meaning.

Laskas, Gretchen Moran. The Miner's Daughter. New York : Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2007. 9781416912620 (hc) 1416912622 (hc).http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=524619&er=9781416912620

Our First look at New Deal Programs

The title of the photograph at left is:

Entering Preston County, West Virginia. Sign refers to Arthurdale Project.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection,
LC-USF33-T01-001374-M3 DLC (b&w film dup. neg.)

It's tough to read, but I thought it was a great image to introduce the topic this week. After FDR came into office, many programs were put in place to help ease the suffering of Americans. One project was the creation of a homestead community called Arthurdale. Eleanor Roosevelt played an active role in the town's creation.

The former First Lady plays a role in The Miner's Daughter, the next book I'll review. It was written by Gretchen Moran Laskas and tells the story of, Willa and how she came to live at Arthurdale.

It's the first Young Adult book I've reviewed and I wanted to choose one that had a particular theme. Willa's journey from her coal mining town to Arthurdale is inspiring as well as historic!

Here's a link to the award winning site of Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. It's a great site, full of information, photographs, etc. that details the history of Arthurdale. http://www.arthurdaleheritage.org/

I think this is going to be a great topic!

Becky

Dust to Eat : Drought and Depression in the 1930's

Michael L. Cooper, author of the Kite Award winning, Dust to Eat : Drought and Depression in the 1930’s, opens his book with a study of the migration of dust bowl refugees to California. Labeled “Okies”, Cooper explores their experiences within the context of John Steinbeck’s writings. He discusses how Steinbeck, shocked by the squalor and poverty of the homeless, felt moved to write “The Grapes of Wrath” in a matter of weeks. The many quotes and background details offer a good introduction to Steinbeck.

Cooper turns his attention to the catalyst for the massive migration: the dust bowl. He spends a chapter outlining the storms: their magnitude, paths and duration. He also studies how repeated plowing and drought conditions left the soil vulnerable to strong winds. Harsh weather conditions, overuse of the land and the declining economy were all factors that forced people from their homes, states and lives.

I have noted before, that I am a big fan of Caroline A. Henderson. I love her ability to walk a reader back into her time and place. Cooper opens his book with an introduction that features a quote by Henderson. He then does a wonderful job of culling specific Henderson text to compliment his overall message of dust bowl life. A particularly poignant story highlights just how harsh country life had become. Henderson talks about how a bedraggled jackrabbit, once a master of the open prairie, had sought refuge in her woodpile.

Cooper goes on to outline the laws and programs Roosevelt instituted in his first few months of office to help turn the economy around and put people back to work. He uses a combination of songs, oral histories and news accounts to describe how migrants traveled any way they could to get to the promise that was California. But once there, they faced discrimination, prejudice and continued unemployment. It took the onset of WWII to turn the economy around.

Black and white photographs, newspaper headlines and posters fill nearly every page making the book visually appealing. Woody Guthrie song lyrics add an authentic flavor to the period the book discusses. There is also a comprehensive appendix that lists books, websites, movies and museum information for student who want to learn more about the dust bowl and the 1930’s.

Cooper, Michael L. Dust to Eat : Drought and Depression in the 1930's. Clarion Books, 2004. http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=111116

Then the Dust Began to Blow

In a March 13, 1936 letter to her friend, Eva, Caroline A. Henderson wrote:

"It has been a terrible week, with one day of almost complete obscurity, and others when only a part of the sun's rays struggled throught the gloom with a strange bluish luminance. On such days each little wave of the troubled water in the stock tank glitters with a blue phosphorescent light. When I dip out a pail of water to carry to the henhouse, it looks almost as if it were covered with a film of oil. On days like this, when William Vaughn Moody's expression 'dust to eat' suggests a literal danger, we can't help questioning whether the traits we would rather think of as courage and perseverance are not actually recklessness and inertia. Who shall say?"

In this excerpt from a letter, one of several published by The Atlantic Monthly in an article entitled, “Letters from the Dust Bowl”, May 1936, pp. 540-551, Henderson does not merely offer a glimpse into life during the dust bowl years; her detailed depictions bring the era to life. A reader can almost touch the viscosity of the water as it sloshes in the pail. Her reference to Moody is a device she uses often when she cites other authors and their works and uses their words to enrich her own. She completes her portraits of life in the Oklahoma dust bowl with her humanly honest accounts of storms, financial calamities and ebbing emotional reserves.

I start my discussion on the dust bowl with an entry by Caroline A. Henderson for two reasons. First, I’ve always admired her mastery of language and her ability to describe her surroundings in such a way that it allows a reader entry into her world. Second, award winning author, Michael L. Cooper uses many excerpts from Henderson’s writings in his book, Dust to Eat : Drought and Depression in the 1930’s. I will review Cooper’s book as part of this exploration of depression era dust storms and the resulting disastrous effects during the Great Depression.

Henderson, Caroline. Letters from the Dust Bowl. Norman, OK : University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-8061-3350-8, ISBN(10): 0-8061-3350-3
http://www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=978-0-8061-3350-8

A visit with author Dandi Daley Mackall

The illustration at right is my version of a hobo mark found in Dandi Daley Mackall's glossary in her book, Rudy Rides the Rails : A Depression Era Story. I've seen other versions of cats as marks and the common thread seems to be 'kindness" or "kindhearted".

I thought I'd include a mark with this entry because Ms. Mackall talks about this very topic as she shares how she came to meet Rudy and what inspired her interest in hobos. Enjoy!

Dandi Daley Mackall wrote:

"When I was a kid, I remember my grandmother telling me about the hoboes who hopped off the freights in our little town of Hamilton, Missouri. She said they’d walk up the tracks, past four houses, and head straight for her house. She’d always give them something—usually a piece of pie; but she wondered how they knew. Then a friend showed her that the big tree in front of her house had a carving on it, the face of a smiling cat.

Years later (and a couple of hundred books later), I thought about the symbol and started researching other hobo signs. Then I got hooked. I read and read about the Depression and the hoboes. I hopped onto Internet bulletin boards and joined discussions. I “met” groups of modern hoboes, lots of college and seminary professors, who spend summers hopping freights across the country. Several of them told me, “You have to talk to Rudy Phillips, perhaps the oldest living hobo who rode the rails in the Great Depression.”

So one Sunday, I called Rudy in Shawneetown, IL. We talked for over an hour that day, and Rudy delighted me with stories of hobo jungles and “catching the blue,” “riding the cowcatcher.” After that, I phoned him every Sunday, and we talked—he talked, and I listened. I sent him a tape recorder and tapes and a mailer, and he talked for hours, recalling the smell of the boxcar, the routes and changing stations, what people were wearing—all the great details. Finally, my husband and I journeyed to see Rudy. I spent a whole day with him, and he was even better in person. Rudy was 90 when I was working on this book (and my husband said as we drove home—“90 years old, and the guy was hitting on you!” Rudy gave me the dictionary of hobo signs that appears in the back of the book, along with definitions and terms, which I’ve defined in the glossary. He knew all about the book I was writing, although he died just before it came out. I dedicated the book to Rudy, who “caught the Westbound,” the term he used for his old friends passing on to a better life.

After the book came out this past year, I was invited to join in the International Hobo Convention in Britt, IA. It was wonderful to meet so many who knew and loved Rudy—what great people, and what a terrific heritage. Many of the hoboes—like Mama Jo and Hobo Santa--now have ministries to the homeless.

Dear Dandi,

Thank you so sharing this beautiful story! I've included a link to the Hobo Museum in Britt, Iowa. Dandi will be among the celebrated guests at the next convention in July, 2008. Good luck, Dandi, and thank you, again!!

Becky

http://www.hobo.com/ Hobo Museum Britt, Iowa

Rudy Rides the Rails : A Depression Era Story

Rudy was just a teenager when he hopped his first train. He hoped to find work so he could send some money home. He also hoped to be one less mouth for his folks to feed.

Rudy Rides the Rails : A Depression Era Story tells a fictionalized account of real life hobo, Ramblin' Rudy's journey to California and back. The story follows the lad as he leaves his Ohio home and journeys across the country, meeting hobos, finding work where ever he can, and learning the hard lessons on how to survive riding the trains.

Author Dandi Daley Mackall does a good job detailing the perils Rudy faced, such as catching cinders from the trains' stack, out running rail yard 'bulls' and finding work.

What is particularly fascinating is the book's treatment of the hobo marking system. Hobo culture used a relatively simple set of 'marks' or signs as a way to leave messages to future hobos who happen to travel the same path. The sign of a cat's face meant the home or business was kind, while a rectangle with a dot in the center meant the place was hostile or dangerous. They used arrows to show directions, circles with X's to show where one could get a handout and an empty zero to indicate the house offered nothing. Mackall includes a grouping of the marks in her glossary.

Another unique aspect of her book is her use of jargon common among hobos. The 'Sally' was the Salvation Army, 'Cali' was California and 'Casey' was Kansas City, Missouri, just to name a few. The jargon is peppered throughout the book and gives the story an authentic flavor for the era it describes.

Chris Ellison's illustrations also lend authenticity to that by-gone era when at one moment a boy could be running in a field and riding in an empty rail car the next. His thick brush strokes accentuate the billowing steam from the engines and the starkness of wooden trains.
Despite the fact that Rudy Rides the Rails is laid out as a Picture Book, its rich detail and engaging illustrations will make it an interesting story for readers of all ages.

Watch for a wonderful account of the history of this story when I share a letter from Dandi Daley Mackall in my next post!

Becky

Dandi Daley Mackall website :http://www.dandibooks.com/

Chris Ellison website : http://www.sleepingbearpress.com/authors_illustrators/chris_ellison.htm

Book information : http://gale.cengage.com/servlet/ItemDetailServlet?region=9&imprint=k12&titleCode=SB56&type=4&id=226349