Amie here. Have you heard about the Iowa town that became a utopia for Black workers over a hundred years ago? (It’s one of my favorite Black History Month stories.)
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Buxton, Iowa, was an unincorporated mining town where Black and white residents lived, worked, and went to school side by side—with equal pay and no segregation.
How? It was designed that way.
Buxton used to sit between Monrow and Mahaska counties in Southeast Iowa, near present-day Oskaloosa.
Back in the late 1800s, coal mining towns were everywhere in Iowa.
At the same time, miners—working in dirty, difficult conditions with low pay and long hours—were going on labor strikes across the country. Coal companies responded by recruiting Black workers from the South instead of agreeing to white coal miners’ demands.
Usually, that ended up sowing resentment between white and Black workers, leading to more strikes and even violence.
But that didn’t happen here. When businessman J.E. Buxton gave the reins of his coal company to his son, Benjamin, he gave him free rein to build a new town. And Benjamin Buxton, a white man, wanted something different.
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So he built Buxton: A company town where Black and white Swedish residents were treated equally:
- They were neighbors,
- lived in identical company housing,
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went to the same school with Black and white teachers,
- shopped at each others’ businesses,
- swam in the same pool at the same YMCA,
- and were paid equal—and very good—wages.
By 1905, Buxton was majority Black, with 2,700 Black residents and almost 2000 white ones. And it nurtured a Black professional class: The first Black man to graduate from the University of Iowa Medical School was from Buxton, as was an attorney and cofounder of what would become the NAACP.
Once the coal was gone, however, so was Buxton. But the story of what could be done, when it matters to those with money and power, still resonates.
For more on Buxton, check out LostBuxton.com, where journalist and historian Rachelle Chase (previously of Starting Line!) has extensively researched the town.
Do you have any stories about Buxton? Reply and tell me!
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Amie Rivers
Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line
Member, COURIER United (WGA East)
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Continuing problems at Johnson Co. mobile home parks: Residents told Iowa Starting Line’s Zachary Oren Smith about long-term issues with unclean water and soil erosion that have become so serious they’re beginning to impact important supports for their homes.
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Losing your health care? Health policy changes in Washington will ripple through the country, resulting in millions of Americans losing their Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage. But there are still ways to find care if you’re uninsured.
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Is the economy great? President Donald Trump visited Iowa last week, touting his economic record and asking voters to believe he stands with working people, small businesses, and farmers. But right now, that’s not true, say Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Lehman and RAYGUN owner Mike Draper. Relatedly—and reminiscent of the 1980s farm crisis—farmers are now 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
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Manufacturing slows: A new labor report shows job losses in manufacturing, information, and professional and business services, leading to just 22,000 jobs being added in January.
- We’re growing too much corn, with not enough markets for it, according to a recent Corn Impact Study by the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.
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Cuts at MercyOne: The hospital chain already announced they were closing their Ottumwa clinic and laying off 40 workers by Feb. 27; now, they announced they’ll also cut 67 workers from the Des Moines Medical Center and 34 from the North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City by Mar. 17.
- Young Workers March in DC this weekend: Labor unions and worker advocacy organizations across the US are rallying at the US Capitol Saturday “to demand an America that works for workers and to ensure young workers have the same opportunities their parents had.”
- Farmers haven’t made a profit in a decade: The USDA says farmers’ costs for things like fertilizer, fuel, seed, feed, machinery, and labor have exceeded the prices they receive every month since 2015–and it’s getting worse.
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USDA staffing down 21%: If you’re experiencing delays from the USDA, here’s why.
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Rural homelessness is growing faster than homelessness in cities.
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Voting on a union: Twenty-three full- and part-time registered nurses and licensed practical nurses at Davenport Lutheran Home filed a petition for an election on whether to be represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 431 on Jan. 28. // Fifty full- and part-time workers at River Hills Community Health Center in Ottumwa will vote Feb. 19 on whether to be represented by Teamsters Local 90.
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Medtec/CQ Medical in Orange City is closing and laying off 33 workers by Friday.
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Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 25 workers by Friday, 33 workers by Mar. 20, and 49 workers by Apr. 4. Read more here.
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Winnebago Industries in Charles City is closing and laying off its remaining 23 workers by Feb. 20.
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MercyOne in Ottumwa is closing and laying off 40 workers in Ottumwa by Feb. 27, 67 workers at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center by Mar. 17, and 34 workers at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City by Mar. 17. Read more here.
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Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Amie Rivers. It was edited by Paula Solis.
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