1930: the Great Depression. Twenty-five cent an hour jobs attract thousands of men to West Virginia, two-thirds of them black, to drill Union Carbide's Hawks Nest tunnel through near-solid rock. Within months, men fall ill and die of a mysterious illness tunnelitis company doctors call it. Lacking respiratory protection, at least 800, possibly over 1,500, workers will die of acute silicosis in America's worst industrial disaster. Orville Orr, a company-paid deputy sheriff secures the first autopsy of a tunnel worker and builds evidence of the company's responsibility for the deaths. Armen, the mixed-race daughter of a tunnel worker and union organizer who has died of silicosis, joins him and they fall in love, as Orville risks his life to expose the truth.
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Dwight Harshbarger captures the destruction during the digging of Hawks Nest tunnel of well over 700 lives workers who fell victim to undiagnosed silicosis and the cover-up of the tragedy by Union Carbide. I wish all West Virginia citizens would read this important book. --Joseph Wyatt, Professor of Psychology, Marshall University
n the plain-spoken language of the people he writes about, Dwight Harshbarger has written a compelling tale of disaster and injustice. Harshbarger's respect for history and for the common man shines through in Witness at Hawks Nest. What the book reveals is shocking and deeply relevant to our discussion of America's future in the twenty-first century. --David Huddle, author of Paper Boy, Only the Little Bone and Glory River
Witness at Hawks Nest is a welcome addition to literature about the horrific incident. Harshbarger gives faces and voices to the victims the men who dug the Hawks Nest tunnel and fell victim to one of the worst industrial disasters in the nation, and the families who loved them. --Denis Giardina, author of Storming Heaven and The Unquiet Earth
n the plain-spoken language of the people he writes about, Dwight Harshbarger has written a compelling tale of disaster and injustice. Harshbarger's respect for history and for the common man shines through in Witness at Hawks Nest. What the book reveals is shocking and deeply relevant to our discussion of America's future in the twenty-first century. --David Huddle, author of Paper Boy, Only the Little Bone and Glory River
Witness at Hawks Nest is a welcome addition to literature about the horrific incident. Harshbarger gives faces and voices to the victims the men who dug the Hawks Nest tunnel and fell victim to one of the worst industrial disasters in the nation, and the families who loved them. --Denis Giardina, author of Storming Heaven and The Unquiet Earth
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific story of greed, corruption, personal strength,
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This review is from: Witness at Hawks Nest (Paperback)
Dwight Harshbarger's novel provides a compelling account of working people caught in a horrible event in American industry. At many levels this is an important book. My stance, agreeing with the other reviewers, is to highly recommend this novel for its treatment of how a good man is drawn into a terrible situation. The story of a worker's growing awareness of his own responsibilities to himself, his family, and his co-workers is haunting. The characters face enormous challenges, experience failures, and some seek redemption. It is a beautifully written account of how many good people were lost as a powerful corporation pursued profit. The characters and their humanity are developed by a writer who keenly observes people, communities, customs, dialogue, and organizations. The story is set in another time and place in American history but its message of corruption and redemption is timeless. It rings true today. Read this book and witness the tragic consequences of corporate greed and how an individual finds the strength to reveal the facts and fight for justice. Read this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The story of a good man,
By Paul Eisenberg (Harvard, MA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Witness at Hawks Nest (Paperback)
Witness at Hawk's Nest is the story of a good man, who begins to realize he has become complicit in a tragedy.
The making of the Hawk's Nest tunnel by Union Carbide provided work to hundreds of people during the darkest days of the Great Depression. It was a godsend to workers, white and black, who otherwise had no work and no other prospects. What could possibly be wrong with something as great as this that could do so much for so many? In telling us the fictional story of one man, Orville Orr, Dwight Harshbarger offers us a way to see the human side of this great enterprise, and from this perspective, we can begin to see its human costs. Orville Orr is a man who has always done his duty. He finds work as a deputy sheriff at Hawk's Nest, responsible for rousting the workers each day so that they will get to their jobs on time. But he finds that the workers are becoming ill and dying off in increasing numbers. He becomes deeply troubled. Where does his duty lie? It takes courage to see the truth and to tell it. The real story of Hawk's Nest, which turned out to be one of the worst industrial disasters in American history, almost never became known. Corrupt interests sought to suppress it. We are indebted to brave people over the years, who struggled to bring this tragedy to light. And now we are indebted to Dwight Harshbarger for telling us this story in all its human dimensions and for showing how the unassuming bravery of one man can make a difference in the world. Harshbarger gives us a vivid sense of time and place, of what life was like in this part of West Virginia during the Great Depression. It comes from a deep knowledge and love of the people and the place. The story he tells is heartfelt and beautifully written, and when you pick up this book, you will not want to put it down.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling story of corporate America's disregard for life,
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This review is from: Witness at Hawks Nest (Paperback)
"Witness at Hawk's Nest" was such a riveting story that I had difficulty putting it down. The author's descriptions of the characters made them seem real. Their conversations made me feel I was right there listening to them. His account of how a huge corporation caused the deaths of so many unsuspecting people brought me to tears. This book is a must read for people everywhere.
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