xt79gh9b5x4t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79gh9b5x4t/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79gh9b5x4t/data/91m2.dao.xml unknown 1854-1996 48.0 Cubic feet collections English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Anne and Harry M. Caudill Collection Coal mines and mining--Appalachian Region--History. Coal mines and mining--Economic aspects--Appalachian Region. Coal mines and mining--Economic aspects--Kentucky. Coal mines and mining--Environmental aspects--Appalachian Region. Coal mines and mining--Environmental aspects--Kentucky. Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History. Coal mines and mining--Social aspects--Appalachian Region. Coal mines and mining--Social aspects--Kentucky. Community development--Appalachian Region. Community development--Kentucky. Poverty--Appalachian Region Poverty--Kentucky. Strip mining--Environmental aspects--Kentucky. Anne and Harry M. Caudill Collection text Anne and Harry M. Caudill Collection 1854 1854-1996 2012 true xt79gh9b5x4t collection false 
     
         91m2 
         
             
                 Guide to the Anne and Harry M. Caudill Collection, 1854-1996
                     91M2 
                 
                 Finding aid prepared by Processed by Kate Black; machine-readable finding aid created by Eric Weig 
             
             
                 
                     
                 
                 University of Kentucky Special Collections 
                 
                     Special Collections 
                     Margaret I. King Building, North 
                     Lexington, KY, 40506-0039 
                     (859) 257-8611 
                     SCLREF@LSV.UKY.EDU 
                 
                 2005 
             
         
         
             This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit
                 2012-07-30T13:18-0400 
             
             Description is in English. 
         
     
     
         
             Anne and Harry M. Caudill Collection 
             91M2 
             
                 University of Kentucky Special Collections 
             
             
                 
             
             
                 48.0 Cubic feet 
             
             1854-1996 
         
         
             Conditions Governing Access note 
             Collection is open for research. 
         
         
             Conditions Governing Use note 
             Copyright has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. 
         
         
             Preferred Citation note 
             [Identification of item], Anne and Harry M. Caudill Collection, 1854-1996, 91M2, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington 
         
         
             Biographical/Historical note 
             Harry Monroe Caudill 
             During his life of sixty-eight years, Harry Caudill played active roles in local, state, and national arenas. A lawyer by profession, he practiced in his native Letcher County for twenty-eight years after receiving his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1948 and also served as President of the Letcher County Bar Association. As a politician, he completed three two-year terms (elected in 1953, 1955, and 1959) in the Kentucky House of Representatives, during which he helped produce a stinging report on the status of Kentucky education and helped advocate better strip-mining control laws. In addition, as an educator, he taught Appalachian history for eight years in the University of Kentucky's history department. Finally, he served his country during WWII in North Africa and Italy, where he received a leg injury that plagued him for the rest of his life. 
             However, Caudill was best known nationally for his role as a writer-of about 80 newspaper essays, 50 odd magazine articles, more than 120 lectures and speeches, and 10 books-who drew attention to the social, economic, and environmental problems the coal industry had caused in his region, earning him the moniker "Upton Sinclair of the coal fields." He wanted the nation to develop a more objective understanding of Appalachia along with a new land ethic. 
             Caudill, who spent much of his life preoccupied with such public and conservation problems, was somewhat unique in his criticism and activism because he was produced by the situations he wrote about. Born on May 3, 1922, on Long Branch in Letcher County, this tireless regional advocate was among the sixth generation of the Caudill family in the Whitesburg, Kentucky area. (James Caudill, his great-grandfather, built a cabin in Letcher County, near the headwaters of the Kentucky River, around 1792.) 
             His interest in socio-political issues stemmed from spending many of his boyhood days in the courthouse of his "dear old Letcherous County," where his father, a disabled former miner, was clerk and actively participated in many political campaigns. Add this to a natural story-telling ability inherited from his rich mountain culture, and the result was a book that opened the eyes of officials in Washington and people from around the nation: 
                 Night Comes to the Cumberlands , published in 1963. Caudill became the "voice" of Appalachia almost overnight, and, in a writing career that spanned nearly thirty years, he made people think-about the poverty in Appalachia, about the ravages of strip-mining, about a region historically plundered and neglected by its nation. 
             Caudill was ably supported by his wife, Anne Frye Caudill of Cynthiana, Kentucky-with whom he fathered three children: James, Diana, and Harry Frye and who not only closely assisted him in his research and writing but also coordinated his public appearances and numerous tours of the region given to journalists and conservationists. Their partnership resulted in the writing of several additional books and numerous articles and lectures which communicated Caudill's visionary ideas. 
             He wanted everyone in and outside of Appalachia to feel the urgency of the realization that haunted him: the knowledge of how important it was for the region to get out from under the shadow of coal and stand on its own. He recommended forming a "Southern Mountain Authority" modeled on the Tennessee Valley Authority (which he saw as a good model in its early years despite its later faults); he successfully enlisted the aid of many nationally prominent organizations, including the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, in the fight against strip mining, and he acted as liaison and mediator for local anti-strip mining groups like the Pike County Citizens Association and the Appalachian Group to Save the Land and People. 
             After years of such unflagging advocacy, Caudill was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He died by his own hands on November 29, 1990, on his much-loved Whitesburg homestead. 
         
         
             Scope and Contents note 
             The University of Kentucky Library Special Collections received the gift of Anne and Harry Caudills' papers and photographs over a period of three years, from May of 1988 to November of 1990. 
             Filling over one hundred archival boxes, each holding approximately one-half cubic foot and spanning over forty years, from the late 1940s to 1990, it is a rich archive. The papers illuminate the Caudills' own work in various arenas, such as the environment and development, but also document, for example, the anti-strip mining work of Save Our Kentucky (SOK) and the development theories laid out by the Congress for Appalachian Development (CAD). 
             The subject files, probably the meatiest part for most researchers and comprising about 30% of the collection, contain correspondence and clippings arranged topically, then chronologically. Broad areas include "Development in Appalachia," "Education," "Environment," "Politics," and "War on Poverty." Each category is further broken down into more specific groupings. For example, the subject "Environment" is separated into such sub-divisions as "Red River Gorge Dam," "Lilley's Woods," "Strip Mining," and "White House Conference on Natural Beauty." 
             Another important part of the collection is the "Correspondence" section and, like the subject files, it is organized topically, then chronologically. Here, a researcher can examine the breadth of Caudill's influence on shaping people's definitions of Appalachia and Appalachians as well as on the molding of government policy at both the federal and state levels. In-coming and out-going correspondence about 
                 Night Comes to the Cumberlands  alone fills five boxes and spans from publication date in 1963 to 2005. The sheer volume of the letters is remarkable, as is the diversity of people who read and were influenced by the book--from government officials to students living out West. 
             The collection does include more standard archival fare: a complete run of Caudill's published articles and manuscripts of much of his writing. Yet, amongst these, there are some not-so-usual items, such as manuscripts of his government testimonies and speeches and lectures delivered throughout the country. 
             Finally, the collection contains reviews of Caudill's books; biographical materials; a box of papers illustrating his involvement in a number of documentary films and radio and television programs; and a fascinating compilation of articles/sources Caudill consulted in his own research. 
         
         
             Related Material 
             The accompanying photograph collection (PA91M2) is small but contains some pieces worth noting. Of particular interest are the excellent War on Poverty photographs, many of which are professional quality prints taken by photojournalists for national publications who traveled to the Letcher Co. area. The pictures documenting the environmental degradation caused by strip mining in eastern Kentucky in the 1960s are also worth notice. 
             The Caudills gave materials to other libraries and archives: Appalshop holds some audio tapes of radio interviews with Caudill; Northern Kentucky University received much of his and Anne's excellent book collection on Kentucky and Appalachian history, literature, and sociology; and Berea College has many of his book manuscripts. 
         
         
             Finding aid 
             Finding aid located in Breckinridge Research Room. 
         
         
             Caudill, Anne F. 
             Caudill, Harry M., 1922-1990. 
             Coal mines and mining--Appalachian Region--History. 
             Coal mines and mining--Economic aspects--Appalachian Region. 
             Coal mines and mining--Economic aspects--Kentucky. 
             Coal mines and mining--Environmental aspects--Appalachian Region. 
             Coal mines and mining--Environmental aspects--Kentucky. 
             Coal mines and mining--Kentucky--History. 
             Coal mines and mining--Social aspects--Appalachian Region. 
             Coal mines and mining--Social aspects--Kentucky. 
             Community development--Appalachian Region. 
             Community development--Kentucky. 
             Poverty--Appalachian Region 
             Poverty--Kentucky. 
             Strip mining--Environmental aspects--Kentucky. 
         
         
             
                 
                     BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS 
                     I 
                 
                 
                     
                         ARTICLES 
                         i 
                     
                     
                         
                             "Compassion for a Region" by Fred Luigart, Jr. 
                                 Louisville Courier-Journal Magazine , July 7, 1963 
                             1 
                             1 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Caudill's in Another Fight" by Fred W. Luigart, Jr. 
                                 Louisville Courier-Journal Magazine , November 17, 1963 
                             1 
                             2 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Caudill Analyzes Causes, Proposes Poverty Remedies." 
                                 Louisville Courier-Journal , May 10, 1964, Section 4 [from 
                                 U. S. News and World Report  interview, May 11, 1964] 
                             1 
                             3 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "We Are on Our Way to Becoming a Welfare Reservation." 
                                 U. S. News and World Report , Vol. 56, no. 19 (May 11, 1964) 
                             1 
                             4 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Caudill Urges New Tack on Appalachia" by Margaret Paschke. 
                                 Kentucky Post , March 17, 1965 
                             1 
                             5 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill: God's Angry Mountaineer." 
                                 Appalachian South , Fall and Winter 1965 [editorial; includes manuscript and published versions] 
                             1 
                             6 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "The Lonely War of a Good, Angry Man" by David G. McCullough. 
                                 American Heritage , December 1969 [for correspondence between Caudill and McCullough about this article, see Box 62, Folder 2] 
                             1 
                             7 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "The Caudills' Environment" by Carol Sutton. 
                                 Louisville Courier- Journal & Times , February 1, 1970, Section G 
                             1 
                             8 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Strip Mining Foe Keeps Battling" by Jack Trawick. 
                                 Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel , March 22, 1970 
                             1 
                             9 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "An Interview with Harry Caudill." 
                                 Coal Facts , Vol. 1, no. 5 (January 28, 1972) [transcript of NBC's Frank McGee interview televised on the "Today" show, January 7, 1972] 
                             1 
                             10 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill and His Land" by Colman McCarthy. 
                                 Washington Post , July 7, 1972 
                             1 
                             11 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "A Rhetorical Analysis: Harry M. Caudill Address to the Kentucky Press Association January 24, 1970" by Linda Foote. August 2, 1972 [unpublished student seminar paper] 
                             1 
                             12 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Monroe Caudill--A Study in Regional Oratory" by Donald Felty. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 1972 [Master's thesis] 
                             1 
                             13 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Kentucky is a Mix of Violence, Coal and Smiles" by J.A.C. Dunn. 
                                 Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel , September 7, 1974 
                             2 
                             1 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Honorary Mountaineer of the Month: Harry Caudill, Fighter for a Lost Cause?" by Greg Carannante and Jim Webb. 
                                 Mountain Call , Vol. 2, no. 3 (April 1975) 
                             2 
                             2 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "The Plowboy Interview: Harry Caudill." 
                                 Mother Earth News , Vol. 1, no. 34 (July 1975) 
                             2 
                             3 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Prophet of Environmentalists: Kentucky Author Harry Caudill Still Worried About Future" by Mary Buckner. 
                                 Lexington Herald- Leader , February 1, 1976 
                             2 
                             4 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Has Harry Caudill Mellowed?" by John Ed Pearce. 
                                 Louisville Courier Journal & Times Magazine , June 6, 1976 
                             2 
                             5 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Caudill Looks Back and Ahead as He Takes Leave of His Hills--For Awhile" by Scott Payton. 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , August 28, 1977 
                             2 
                             6 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Press Essential to 'Save the Day'" by W. E. Chilton III and James F. Dent. 
                                 Charleston Gazette-Mail , August 27, 1978 [interview] 
                             2 
                             7 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "From Politics to Books, Harry Caudill Is Still Thinking" by Kevin Osbourn. 
                                 Kentucky Kernel , April 29, 1980 
                             2 
                             8 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill Still Beating the Drum for Appalachia" by Lee Mueller. 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , March 8, 1981 
                             2 
                             9 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry M. Caudill in His Own Words" by Elizabeth Rouse. 
                                 Kentucky Monthly , Vol. 2, no. 5 (April 1981)[interview] 
                             2 
                             10 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "The 'Other' Harry Caudill: A Critique" by Alice Cornett. 
                                 Kentucky Coal Journal , April 1981 
                             2 
                             11 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Caudill's Works Are Filled With Inaccuracies, Hazard Writer Says." 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , April 19, 1981 [reprint of "The 'Other' Harry Caudill: A Critique," in 
                                 Kentucky Coal Journal , April 1981 and includes a "Counterpoint" by Caudill] 
                             2 
                             12 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "An Interview With Harry Caudill" by Stephen L. Fischer and J. W. Williamson. 
                                 Appalachian Journal , Vol. 8, no. 4 (Summer 1981) 
                             2 
                             13 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Hulking 6-Footer Drove Home Ugliness of 'Welfarism' for Kentucky Muckraker" by C. Fraser Smith. 
                                 Baltimore Sun , November 13, 1981 
                             2 
                             14 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Appalachia: Tracking the Character of a People Through the Hills" and "Appalachia 's Progressive Destination" by Ron Larson. 
                                 Roanoke Times & World Report , March 28, 1982 and April 4, 1982 [from an interview done in December 1981] 
                             2 
                             15 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill and the Burden of Mountain Liberalism" by Ronald D. Eller. 
                                 Proceedings of the 5th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference , 1982 [manuscript and revised published version] 
                             2 
                             16 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Night Comes to the Cumberlands. Twenty Years After and Twenty Years Ahead" by William T. Cornett. 
                                 Troublesome Creek Times , June 30, 1982 
                             2 
                             17 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Ravages of Strip Mining Still Exist" by Jim Warren. 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , March 7, 1983 [interview] 
                             2 
                             18 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "As the World Turns: The Melodrama of Harry Caudill" by Steve Fisher. 
                                 Appalachian Journal , Spring 1984 [essay is also a review of 
                                 Theirs Be The Power ] 
                             2 
                             19 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "We Need Community--But How?" 
                                 Mountain Spirit , November-December 1984 [interview with Caudill and Father Ralph Beiting] 
                             2 
                             20 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill, Noted Appalachian Author, Leaving UK for Home" by Katy McCrocklin. 
                                 Kentucky Journal , Vol. 1, no. 13 (May 2, 1985) 
                             2 
                             21 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill in Retirement: He Remains a Mountain Rebel" by Judy Jones Lewis. 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , October 26, 1986 
                             2 
                             22 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "The Mountain, The Miners, and Mister Caudill" by John G. Mitchell. 
                                 Audubon , November 1988 
                             2 
                             23 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill and Wife Anne Work for Better East Kentucky" by William T. Cornett. 
                                 Mountain Eagle , April 12, 1989 
                             2 
                             24 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Interview with Anne Frye Caudill" by Mary Ellen Elsbernd. February and March 1990 [unpublished as of April 1995] 
                             2 
                             25 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Voice of the Mountains" by Jim Warren. 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , April 29, 1990 
                             2 
                             26 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "An Interview With Harry Caudill" by Mary Ellen Elsbernd and James C. Claypool. 
                                 Journal of Kentucky Studies , Vol. 7 (September 1990) 
                             2 
                             27 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Mountain Lawyer's Writings Draw Nation's Attention to Kentucky Highlands" by William T. Cornett. 
                                 Kentucky Explorer , November 1990 
                             2 
                             28 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill's Appalachia" by Colman McCarthy. 
                                 Washington Post , December 8, 1990 
                             2 
                             29 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "The Man Who Loved the Mountains" by Tom Gish. 
                                 Appalachia , Vol. 24, no.2 (Spring 1991) 
                             2 
                             30 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "A Tribute to Harry M. Caudill" by Loyal Jones. 
                                 Appalachian Heritage , Vol. 19, no. 2 (Spring 1991) 
                             2 
                             31 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "A Research Paper on Harry Monroe Caudill" by Sherri L. Cook. April 21, 1992 [unpublished student paper] 
                             2 
                             32 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Harry Caudill's 'Night Comes to the Cumberlands' Marks 30th Anniversary" by Thomas T. Ross. 
                                 Kentucky Explorer , September 1993 
                             2 
                             33 
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             "Ups and Downs: Caudill Was Right; A Vote For Tax Equity." 
                                 Lexington Herald-Leader , May 28, 1994 
                             2 
                             34 
                         
                     
                 
                 
                     
                         AWARDS AND HONORS 
                         ii 
                     
                     
                         
                             General 
                             i 
                         
                         
                             
                                 May 7, 1937-June 14, 1970 
                                 3 
                                 1 
                             
                         
                         
                             
                                 January 18, 1971-March 6, 1979 
                                 3 
                                 2 
                             
                         
                         
                             
                                 March 20, 1980-August 1996; N.d. 
                                 3 
                                 3 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             Eastern Kentucky University Honorary Degree 
                             ii 
                         
                         
                             Scope and Contents note 
                             The president and the faculty senate of Eastern Kentucky University nominated Caudill for an honorary doctorate degree in 1970. But Eastern's board of regents rejected the recommendation when two members on the board objected to awarding Caudill on grounds that he was too controversial. 
                         
                         
                             
                                 June 6, 1970-July 6, 1970; N.d. 
                                 3 
                                 4 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             The "Roast", October 30, 1986 
                             iii 
                         
                         
                             Scope and Contents note 
                             Caudill was honored at a "Banquet and Roast" on October 30, 1986 at the University of Kentucky. This was part of the program at the "On the Land and Economy of Appalachia" conference sponsored by the University's Appalachian Center. The occasion was also intended to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the writing of 
                                 Night Comes to the Cumberlands . [Caudill's speech delivered at the banquet is filed with Manuscripts--Lectures and Speeches in Box 75, Folder 36.] 
                         
                         
                             
                                 June 16, 1986-December 7, 1986 
                                 3 
                                 5 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             Dedication of Caudill Appalachian Studies Book Collection to Northern Kentucky University, March 29, 1990 
                             iv 
                         
                         
                             
                                 November 11, 1988-November 7, 1991 
                                 3 
                                 6 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                         
                             Harry M. Caudill Memorial Public Library Dedication, May 22, 1994 
                             v 
                         
                         
                             Scope and Contents note 
                             [includes background materials on the development of the project] 
                         
                         
                             
                                 November 21, 1990-June 1, 1994 
                                 3 
                                 7