Anita Cherry was an American practical nurse and coal miner. She and Diana Baldwin are believed to have been the first women to work in an underground coal mine in the United States. They were also the first female members of United Mine Workers of America to work inside a mine, [1] [2] despite the tradition in the Eastern Kentucky coalfields that women were bad luck in mines. [3]
Until 1973, women were denied from working in mines as they were seen as bad luck and would bring cave ins, explosions, and fires, despite this, they were hired by the Beth-Elkhorn coal company in Jenkins, Kentucky. [4] [5]
References
- ^ Armstrong, Holly (22 March 2022). "A Brief History of Women in Mining". DOL Blog. U.S. Department of Labor.
- ^ Klemesrud, Judy (18 May 1974). "In Coal Mine No. 29, Two Women Work Alongside the Men". The New York Times.
- ^ "Two Women Make History as Kentucky Miners". Toledo Blade. 26 December 1973. p. 21.
- ^ Baisden, Harry I. (6 September 1974). "Two Women Break Sex Bar in Modern Coal Mine". The Evening News. p. 48.
- ^ Gearhart, Dona G. (1995). 'Surely, a wench can choose her own work!' Women coal miners in Paonia, Colorado, 1976-1987 (Thesis). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. doi: 10.25669/83uw-c7cr.