Robert Tharin: Biography of a Mountain Abolitionist.

Scarce Appalachian Movement Press life of mountain abolitionist Robert Tharin

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First edition. The story of an obscure but significant southern dissenter within the broader current of Appalachian radical memory. Robert Tharin, a South Carolinian lawyer and ardent opponent of slavery, relocated to the mountains during the sectional crisis and became a voice of Unionist and abolitionist resistance in a region often mythologized for Confederate loyalty. West, himself a radical poet and organizer from Georgia, frames Tharin’s life as evidence of the deep, if under acknowledged, anti-slavery sentiment that persisted in the upland South.

West’s account of Tharin highlights his career as lawyer, politician, and agitator who challenged both slaveholders and secessionists. In presenting Tharin as a forerunner of mountain radicalism, West sought to challenge dominant narratives of Appalachian conservatism and connect regional history to ongoing struggles for racial and economic justice.

Price: $45.00