| Buxton: A Black Utopia in the Heartland, an Expanded Edition Expanded Edition Contributor(s): Schwieder, Dorothy (Author), Hraba, Joseph (Author), Schwieder, Elmer (Author) |
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ISBN: 0877458529 ISBN-13: 9780877458524 Publisher: University of Iowa Press OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2003 Annotation: FROM 1900 until the early 1920s, an unusual community existed in America's heartland--Buxton, Iowa. Originally established by the Consolidation Coal Company, Buxton was the largest unincorporated coal-mining community in Iowa. What made Buxton unique, however, is the fact that the majority of its five thousand residents were African Americans-a highly unusual racial composition for a state which was over 90 percent white. At a time when both southern and northern blacks were disadvantaged and oppressed, blacks in Buxton enjoyed true racial integration-steady employment, above-average wages, decent housing, and minimal discrimination. For such reasons, Buxton was commonly known as "the black man's utopia in Iowa." Containing documentary evidence-including newspaper reports, census records, photographs, and state mining reports-along with interviews with seventy-five former residents, Buxton: Work and Racial Equality in a Coal Mining Community (originally published in 1987 and winner of the 1988 Benjamin Shambaugh Award) explored the Buxton experience from a variety of perspectives. The authors-an American historian, a family sociologist, and a race relations sociologist-provided a truly interdisciplinary history of a unique community. Now, eighty years after the town's demise and sixteen years after Buxton's original publication, the history of this Iowa town remains a compelling story that continues to capture people's imaginations. In Buxton: A Black Utopia in the Heartland, the authors offer further reflections upon their original study and the many former Buxton residents who shared their memories. In a new essay, "A Buxton Perspective, " they address issues such as social class andthe town's continuing legacy. The voices captured in Buxton, although recorded over twenty years ago, still resonate with exuberance, affection, and poignancy; this expanded edition will bring their amazing stories back to the forefront of Iowa and American history. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - History | United States - State & Local - Midwest(ia,il,in,ks,mi,mn,mo,nd,ne,oh,sd,wi - History | Social History |
| Dewey: 305.962 |
| LCCN: 2002041616 |
| Series: Bur Oak Books |
| Physical Information: 0.66" H x 5.57" W x 8.55" (0.70 lbs) 276 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1900-1919 - Chronological Period - 1920's - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Geographic Orientation - Iowa |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: From 1900 until the early 1920s, an unusual community existed in America's heartland. It was the largest unincorporated coal-mining community in Iowa and the majority of its 5000 residents were African Americans - unusual for a state which was over 90 per cent white. |