Harry Monroe Caudill (May 3, 1922 – November 29, 1990) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

author, historian, lawyer, legislator, and environmentalist from Letcher County, in the coalfields of southeastern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Biography

Caudill served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a private in the U.S. Army. After which, he was elected three times to the Kentucky State House of Representatives. He taught in the History Department at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

from 1976 to 1984. A common theme explored in many of Caudill's writings is the historic underdevelopment of the

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, C ...

n region (particularly his own home area of southeastern Kentucky). In several of his books (most prominently '' Night Comes to the Cumberlands'', 1962) and many of his published articles, he probes the historical poverty of the region, which he attributes in large part to the rapacious policies of the coal mining industries active in the region, as well as their backers: bankers of the northeastern United States. He notes that such interests most often had their headquarters not in Appalachia but in the Northeast or Midwest, and thus failed to properly reinvest their sizable profits in the Appalachian region. Following publication of ''Night Comes to the Cumberlands'', President John F. Kennedy appointed a commission to investigate conditions in the region and subsequently more than $15 billion in aid was invested in the region over twenty-five years. In his later years he became an active opponent of the rapidly growing practice of strip mining as practiced by companies working in Appalachia, which he believed was causing irreparable harm to the land and its people. He published articles in many magazines in addition to speaking out about the subject. Caudill pointed out that strip mining could be done responsibly as in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

where topsoil,

subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus, and ...

, and rocks are removed separately and placed back in layers in their original order. Caudill became interested in the work of William Shockley, a scientist with controversial eugenicist stances at Stanford University in California. Caudill came to believe in Shockley's theory of "dysgenics," the argument that unintelligent people weaken the genes of a "race" over time. He felt that "genetic decline" in Eastern Kentucky contributed to issues of poverty. "The slobs continue to multiply," Caudill wrote in a 1975 letter to ''Time'' magazine. The editors of ''Time'' rejected Caudill's letter. He also produced several volumes of

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

and oral history, which he collected himself from residents of the area centering on Letcher County and

Harlan County, Kentucky Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. Its county seat is Harlan. It is classified as a moist countya county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but conta ...

. One of those oral history interviews in 1941 of a man who would have been about 90 years old, was the basis for the 1995 movie, ''

Pharaoh's Army ''Pharaoh's Army'' is a 1995 American Western film directed, written and produced by Robby Henson, starring Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Kris Kristofferson. The film takes place in southeastern Kentucky during the American Civil War and ...

'', starring

Chris Cooper Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), '' October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' C ...

Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions. Her accolades in ...

, and Kris Kristofferson. Caudill killed himself with a gunshot to the head in 1990, faced with an advancing case of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

. He is buried in Battle Grove Cemetery,

Cynthiana, Kentucky Cynthiana is a home rule-class city in Harrison County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 6,402 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of its county. History The settlement developed on both sides of the South Fork of the Lick ...

Legacy

The Harry M. Caudill Library located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, the main library of the Letcher County Public Library District, is named for Caudill.

Quote

"And we just can't afford to sit back and watch all that (land) be destroyed so a few people can get rich now. One of these days the dear old federal government is going to have to come in and spend billions of dollars just to repair the damage that's already been done. And guess who will have the machines and the workmen to do the job? The same coal operators who made the mess in the first place will be hired to fix it back, and the taxpayers will bear the cost."

Books by Harry M. Caudill

*''Night Comes to the Cumberlands: A Biography of a Depressed Area'' (1962; Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1963). . *''My Land Is Dying'' (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1973). . *''The Watches of the Night'' (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1976). . *''A Darkness at Dawn: Appalachian Kentucky and the Future'' (Lexington: The

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1 ...

, 1976). . *''Dark Hills to Westward: The Saga of Jenny Wiley'' (1969; Ashland, KY: Jesse Stuart Foundation, 1994). . *''The Senator from Slaughter County'' (1973; Ashland, KY: Jesse Stuart Foundation, 1997). . *''The Mountain, the Miner, and the Lord and Other Tales from a Country Law Office'' (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1980). *''Slender is the Thread: Tales from a Country Law Office'' (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1987). *''Appalachian Wilderness: The Great Smoky Mountains'' (Epilogue written by Caudill; co-authored by Eliot Porter and Edward Abbey) (New York: Dutton, 1970) . *''Theirs Be the Power: The Moguls of Kentucky'' (Campaign, IL:University of Illinois Press, 1983)

References

External links