Remembering Buxton

Iowa's egalitarian coal mining town

Remembering Buxton is the story of Buxton, Iowa, a coal mining town in southern Iowa in existence from about 1900 to 1925. The town was half Black and half white. A total anomaly for its time, it was 100% egalitarian, with Blacks in mine management, city government, and professional life. Its neighborhoods and facilities were integrated. It was a unique haven for a brief golden time until the mine played out. 

Here’s a chance for your students or community members to rehearse peripheral parts in a professional Eulenspiegel production and present the show for an audience.

Anna Williams, played by Monica Leo, is a fictional white schoolteacher in one of the Buxton schools. The play is set some years later, as Anna reminisces about life in Buxton. We see the town, an Emancipation celebration, a fire, a parade for women’s suffrage. We hear the Buxton band and see the children playing in the schoolyard.

Dartanyan Brown wrote and performs the music. A renowned Des Moines musician, he is in the Iowa Rock and Roll, Jazz, and Blues Halls of Fame

Remembering Buxton

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