Patricia Spangler

During the 1930s, the Hawks Nest Tunnel was constructed under Gauley Mountain, West Virginia, to divert the New River for hydroelectric power. Sometime during the early stages of the construction of the tunnel, highly-pure silica was found under the mountain. Over a thousand workers mined the silica for use in another project. But the miners accused the company of not ventilating the tunnel or providing masks, which increased the chance of silicosis.

This book collects some primary and secondary sources regarding what is now called the "worst industrial disaster" in American history. The text of most of the US Congressional investigation is the first chapter, and gives a decent summary of the events that occurred (the mining company refused to testify before the committee). But the second chapter is a bit of poetry, and the third chapter provides articles about the mine construction from the local newspaper. Because the book doesn't follow chronological order throughout the chapters, it seems very repetitive in places. It's also a bit odd that certain items are relegated to an appendix, rather than interspersed with the rest of the related information in the main text.

This could have been a better book with just a few minor changes. As mentioned above, a more chronological alignment might have provided a smoother storyline. A better map would have helped -- the only map showing the location of the tunnel is on the very last page of the book, so anyone unfamiliar with the area is left wondering how it looked. And even though the story deals with the 1930s period, a more modern "here's-what-it-looks-like-now" photo might have helped provide a more vivid picture of how immense this project actually was.… (mais)