COAL COUNTRY: 19.Napier_Phelan_lighten_eyes.jpg

Portrait of coal miner Phelan Napier and his wife in their one-room cabin on the outskirts of Harlan, a hard-core coal town in Kentucky. {quote}Bloody Harlan{quote} has a history of violence around coal and saw a pitched battle between federal agents and striking coal miners in 1931 that left many killed on both sides. With jobs in the coal industry declining due to automation, young people are moving away. A college degree is not helpful, since there are no job opportunities to make use of it. The population in Harlan county declined from over 40,000 in 1980 to about 26,000 in 2019. Jon Chase photo
19.Napier_Phelan_lighten_eyes.jpg

Portrait of coal miner Phelan Napier and his wife in their one-room cabin on the outskirts of Harlan, a hard-core coal town in Kentucky. "Bloody Harlan" has a history of violence around coal and saw a pitched battle between federal agents and striking coal miners in 1931 that left many killed on both sides. With jobs in the coal industry declining due to automation, young people are moving away. A college degree is not helpful, since there are no job opportunities to make use of it. The population in Harlan county declined from over 40,000 in 1980 to about 26,000 in 2019. Jon Chase photo