The City That Ate Itself

Winner of the Mining History Association Clark Spence Award for the Best Book in Mining History, 2017-2018 Brian James Leech provides a social and environmental history of Butte, Montana’s Berkeley Pit, an open-pit mine which operated from 1955 to 1982. Using oral history interviews and archival finds, The City That Ate Itself explores the lived experience of open-pit copper mining at Butte’s infamous Berkeley Pit. Because an open-pit mine has to expand outward in order for workers to extract ore, its effects dramatically changed the lives of workers and residents. Although the Berkeley Pit gave consumers easier access to copper, its impact on workers and community members was more mixed, if not detrimental. The pit’s creeping boundaries became even more of a problem. As open-pit mining nibbled away at ethnic communities, neighbors faced new industrial hazards, widespread relocation, and disrupted social ties. Residents variously responded to the pit with celebration, protest, negotiation, and resignation. Even after its closure, the pit still looms over Butte. Now a large toxic lake at the center of a federal environmental cleanup, the Berkeley Pit continues to affect Butte’s search for a postindustrial future.

Moving past the well-tread history of underground mining, this dissertation is the first study to examine the full social effects of the shift from underground to open pit mining, which occurred across the American West's hard rock industry. The basis for this dissertation is a case study of Butte, Montana, where the Anaconda Company performed this switch from the 1950s to the 1970s. Butte's Berkeley Pit was a safe and efficient way to mine copper, but the pit also consumed a number of old city neighborhoods, challenged mining's masculine work culture, lessened union power, strained residents' ethnic traditions, and damaged city leaders' attempts to plan for the future. Like community members, the Anaconda Company also had to adjust to the new form of mining. Facing community protests, Anaconda formed an effective property acquisition system and encouraged its engineers to manage the community's perceptions of open-pit hazards. Like other communities built on an unsustainable natural resource, Butte began to consume itself-- hollowing out the ground, the city center, and the economy. By the late 1970s, environmentalism, fiscal mismanagement, and international competition hit Anaconda at precisely the moment that it faced declining ore grades in Butte. By following Butte's story past the Berkeley Pit's closure in the 1980s, the dissertation therefore also covers the complex consequences of economic bust on western communities, a topic long overlooked in favor of natural resource booms. As the final chapters show, community members eventually made many, often-successful, attempts at environmental and social rebirth.

In Mexico environmental struggles have been fought since the nineteenth century in such places as Zacatecas, where United States and European mining interests have come into open conflict with rural and city residents over water access, environmental health concerns, and disease compensation. In Silver Veins, Dusty Lungs, Rocio Gomez examines the detrimental effects of the silver mining industry on water resources and public health in the city of Zacatecas and argues that the human labor necessary to the mining industry made the worker and the mine inseparable through the land, water, and air. Tensions arose between farmers and the mining industry over water access while the city struggled with mudslides, droughts, and water source contamination. Silicosis-tuberculosis, along with accidents caused by mining technologies like jackhammers and ore-crushers, debilitated scores of miners. By emphasizing the perspective of water and public health, Gomez illustrates that the human body and the environment are not separate entities but rather in a state of constant interaction.

The Romans: An Introduction, 3rd edition engages students in the study of ancient Rome by exploring specific historical events and examining the evidence. This focus enables students not only to learn history and culture but also to understand how we recreate this picture of Roman life. The thematic threads of individuals and events (political, social, legal, military conflicts) are considered and reconsidered in each chapter, providing continuity and illustrating how political, social, and legal norms change over time. This new edition contains extensive updated and revised material designed to evoke the themes and debates which resonate in both the ancient and modern worlds: class struggles, imperialism, constitutional power (checks & balances), the role of the family, slavery, urbanisation, and religious tolerance. Robust case studies with modern parallels push students to interpret and analyze historical events and serve as jumping off points for multifaceted discussion. New features include: Increased emphasis on developing skills in interpretation and analysis which can be used across all disciplines. Expanded historical coverage of Republican history and the Legacy of Rome. An expanded introduction to the ancient source materials, as well as a more focused and analytical approach to the evidence, which are designed to engage the reader further in his/her interaction and interpretation of the material. A dedicated focus on specific events in history that are revisited throughout the book that fosters a richer, more in-depth understanding of key events. New maps and a greater variety of illustrations have been added, as well as updated reading lists. A further appendix on Roman nomenclature and brief descriptions of Roman authors has also been provided. The book’s successful website has been updated with additional resources and images, including on-site videos from ancient sites and case studies which provide closer "tutorial" style treatment of specific topics and types of evidence. Those with an interest in classical language and literature, ancient history, Roman art, political and economic systems, or the concept of civilization as a whole, will gain a greater understanding of both the Romans and the model of a civilization that has shaped so many cultures.

Known for his superrealism and magical images born of the imagery of the Chicano/South Western culture, Ray Gonzalez gives new imagery and intensity to the mystery and common miracles of that culture, the passionate reclamation of identity. Ray Gonzalez is a poet, essayist, and editor born in El Paso, Texas. He is the author of five books of poetry, including The Heat of Arrivals (BOA 1996), which won the 1997 Josephine Miles Book Award for Excellence in Literature, and Cabato Sentora (BOA 1999). He is the editor of twelve anthologies and serves as Poetry Editor of The Bloomsbury Review. Also available by Ray Gonzalez: The Heat of Arrivals TP $12.50, 1-880238-39-X o CUSA Cabato Sentora TP $12.50, 1-880238-70-5 o CUSA

The North American church is struggling. Our society seems to be coming apart at the seams and Christianity appears on the verge of losing its voice, its leadership, and its youth. The church’s calling is to cooperate with her Creator in the repair of the world. Instead, we struggle in the loss of the simplicity of the natural images of Jesus which compel us to engage tension, dependency, and the lesson of being on the margins. Until we learn to take our cues from a world we did not build, our actions will continue to prop up a society struggling from the weight of its own ethos. Part history, part cultural dialogue, part travelogue—always in conversation with the ancient and compelling biblical vision of shalom—Landscape of the Soul will encourage you to see beyond the shells of your constructed world to those places where dynamic spiritual rhythms can still be found.

They call him “The Philanthropist,” but nobody knows his real name or his identity. Despite his mystique, one thing is for sure: he has a lot of money and uses it well, making surprise gifts to people in need at an alarming rate. The donations are good for the news, as is this modern day Robin Hood, but people still ask questions. Why would he give away so much money anonymously? What does he get out of it? His gifts are always unannounced, but the recipients are never shy to make the gifts known, each seeking their own fifteen minutes of fame as the media would then descend. Everyone agrees: it’s a nice distraction from politics, war, and disease. But who is The Philanthropist? How has he managed to keep his identity a secret for so long, and where has all this money come from? The questions are asked, but the hidden hero seems unlikely to make an appearance. This is the secret history of an elusive man, inspired—indeed, obsessed—with giving his money away.