INSIDE INDIANA: Sara, Absalom, Rosalie, Elroy, etc | News

Author Sara L. Bloom introduces her newly published historic novel, “ISELIN: The Rich History of a Western Pennsylvania Coal Town in Appalachia, The Inspiring Story of Unrelenting Citizen Advocates for Social Justice,” at a meet-and-greet event from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Indiana Free Library.

Bloom will sign books and take part in a Q&A session in the library, then meet readers at a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Jimmy Stewart Museum, where the ongoing Mary Stewart Coal Families Exhibit makes a natural tie-in to the subject.

Bloom’s visit and book-signing in Indiana, one of six towns on a nine-day book launch tour, scratches the surface of the significance of her tale. Bloom draws from her family history in Iselin and her experience with that “unrelenting citizen advocate” — her father, who rallied a band of colleagues to fight for clean air, safe and healthy drinking water, and a modern sanitary waste treatment system that drew national attention in 1983.

Bloom’s story profiles the social justice seekers who took command of federal funding opportunities or mastered the court system to break through the oppression and neglect that left coal towns, mine workers and their families far short of enjoying the American way of life afforded to most of society.

“ISELIN” has already drawn attention of Pittsburgh newspaper reporters and Northwestern University’s celebrated Medill School of Journalism, who have begun their own investigations to expand on what Bloom has brought to light.

“I know of no other book that teaches this side of the history of bituminous coal mining in Western Pennsylvania,” Bloom wrote in a press release announcing her tour and visit to Indiana. “The book is unique and valuable in its description of a coal town being owned.”

Bloom’s visit may be a revelation for those who didn’t grow up in the years or towns when coal mining was king, but it will be a validation for others of mining heritage, who learned just as Bloom explains, “even people ‘living on the underside of history’ can succeed by standing up and changing the world, ‘if only we hold firm to our belief in social justice and our own self worth’ through unpaid citizen advocacy.”

The annual Northern Appalachian Folk Festival celebrates the cultural heritage of the region through arts and entertainment but also literally cements the memories of historic figures. The Class of 2023 for the NAFF Walk of Fame, honored with bricks in the sidewalk of the 500 block of Philadelphia Street, has been named: abolitionist Absalom (Albert) Hazlett, an Indiana native who took part in John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry; playwright August Wilson, who penned “The Pittsburgh Cycle” of plays chronicling African-American life in the 20th century; composer Stephen Collins Foster, whose 200-plus songs won recognition for him as “the father of American music;” the “Granny Women” of Appalachia, who filled a niche as midwives in the region from the 1880s to 1930s; Chief Cornplanter, both a warrior and a diplomat of the Dutch-Seneca tribe in the 18th and 19th centuries; environmentalist and suffragist Rosalie Barrow Edge, who founded the first preserve for birds of prey; and Elroy Face, record-setting relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, called a pioneer of modern relief pitching in his 17-year career in the 1950s and 1960s.

The HOF brick laying ceremony is set for the morning of the festival Sept. 9 in downtown Indiana and lists its schedule online at https://www.naffinc.org/.

Mother Earth Farm Fest is an eclectic mix of hiking, music, yoga and camping for a daylong (advertised as “1 p.m. to late”) fundraiser for the Friends of the Parks of Indiana County. Jason Gamble & Friends headline the entertainment at the event at 4420 Warren Road. Supporters must make reservations in advance. They ask a donation of $20 for anyone 18 and older and no charge for those 17 and younger. … Indiana County Planning & Development celebrates the “grand reopening” of the Hoodlebug Trail Extension at South Eighth and Church streets in Indiana, where bicyclists are invited to join a ride south to Indian Springs Road following a 10 a.m. ceremony … Woods Family Band performing blues and rock at 5:30 p.m….