Host Aaron Gernes interviews Rachelle Chase, author of Lost Buxton. In 1900, at a time when Jim Crow, segregation, and the Ku Klux Klan kept blacks and whites separated, residents in Buxton, Iowa—a thriving coal mining town established by Consolidation Coal Company—lived, worked, and went to school side by side. African Americans—miners, teachers, business owners, doctors, lawyers, and more—made up more than half of the population for the first 10 years and remained the largest ethnic group until 1914. By 1922, Buxton was a ghost town. Using photographs and rare audio clips from interviews with former Buxton residents, Chase will share what made Buxton so unique, both in terms of the residents and the town itself—and why Buxton is still being talked about today. Chase will present Buxton, Iowa: A Coal Mining Town Ahead of Its Time at the Forest Ave. Library on Saturday, July 29th at 2:00 PM.
Music credits: "Young, Tough and Terrible" by The Losers / CC BY-NC
