Background Information
"Women Coal Miners" in Encyclopedia of AppalachiaCall Number: 974 E563 2006 (Locations: Reference, Circulating)Publication Date: 2006
Books
“Invisible Woman: Female Labor in the Upper South’s Iron and Mining Industries.” in Neither Lady nor SlaveCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2002Neither Lady nor Slave pushes southern history beyond the plantation to examine the lives and labors of ordinary southern women--white, free black, and Indian.
Coal Miners' Wives : portraits of enduranceCall Number: 305.4209 G455c (Location: Circulating)Publication Date: 1995Few people in America today live with the dangers and deprivations that Appalachian coal mining families experience. But to the eighteen West Virginia women Carol Giesen interviewed for this book, hard times are just everyday life.
Moving Mountains : how one woman and her community won justice from big coalCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2007Deep in the heart of the southern West Virginia coalfields, one of the most important environmental and social empowerment battles in the nation has been waged for the past decade.
“Coalfield Women Making History” [Ky.; 1970s hospital and coal strikes]. in Back Talk from AppalachiaCall Number: 975.009 B126 (Location: Circulating)Publication Date: 2000
Women of CoalCall Number: 305.4209 N858w (Location: Circulating)Publication Date: 1996In Women of Coal, photographs and words of self-expression combine to challenge the stereotypes of mountain and coalfield women. Told in their own words, these stories will speak to general readers as well as anyone interested in the culture and history of Appalachia- Mother Jones and Her Sisters : a century of women activists in the American coal fieldsCall Number: 331.8809 R646m 1998 (Location: Special Collections - Mountain)Publication Date: 1998
- “Moving Up Down in the Mine: The Preservation of Male Privilege Underground” [from interviews with ten women coal miners]" in More Than Class : studying power in the U.S. workplacesCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 1998Examines the changing texture of power relations in non-traditional U.S. worksites.
Daughters of the Mountain : women coal miners in central AppalachiaCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2006Based on in-depth interviews with female miners, Tallichet explores several key topics, including social relations among men and women, professional advancement, and union participation. She also explores the ways in which women adapt to mining culture, developing strategies for both resistance and accommodation to an overwhelmingly male-dominated world.
- Search for additional books in the library catalogsuggested search term:
"women coal miners"
"coal mines and mining" and women
"coal miners' spouses"
Journal and Magazine Articles
Reichart, Karaleah S. 2001. “Narrating Conflict: Women and Coal in Southern West Virginia” [ethnographic interviews]. Journal of Appalachian Studies 7 (Spring): 6-18. (Location: Special Collections - Mountain)
Sale, Anna. 2007. “Sisters in Coal: A History of Women in the West Virginia Mines.” Goldenseal: West Virginia Traditional Life 33, no. 1 (Spring): 10-17. (Location: Special Collections - Mountain)
- Beckwith, Karen. 1998. “Collective Identities of Class and Gender: Working-Class Women in the Pittston Coal Strike” [Va.; 1990]. Political Psychology 19 (March): 147-167.Link to article in JSTOR (Berea College only)
- Savage, Carletta. 2000. “Re-gendering Coal: Female Miners and Male Supervisors.” Appalachian Journal 27 (Spring): 232-248.Link to article in JSTOR (Berea College only)
- Tallichet, Suzanne E. 2000. “Barriers to Women’s Advancement in Underground Coal Mining.” Rural Sociology 65 (June): 234-252.Link to article in Education Research Complete (Berea College only)
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch Academic Search Complete for additional articles.
Newspaper Articles
- Eastern Kentucky bureau, Lee Mueller. "WOMEN RECLAMATION INSPECTORS FIND MORE ACCEPTANCE IN MINES." Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) 11 Mar. 1984, FINAL,: A1.Link to E-Article in Access World News (Berea College community only)
- Mueller, Lee. 2006. "Underrepresented underground: Sex-discrimination lawsuits opened deep coal mining to women in the 1970s. Today, only a handful choose the field." Lexington Herald-Leader (KY )Link to E-Article in Access World News (Berea Community only)
- Special to The New York Times. "Feminist Group Assails Coal Industry :'Time for Support' New Jobs Opening Up. " New York Times (1923-Current file) 12 May 1978,ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007).Link to E-Article in the New York Times Historical (Berea College community only)
Masters Thesis and PhD Disserations
- Living with the Legacy of coal: A Study of Appalachian Women's Perceptions of the coal Industry. Ohio University.Call Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2005
- Eastern Kentucky women on strike : a study of gender, class, and political action in the 1970sCall Number: 323.32 M193e (Location: Special Collections - Mountain)Publication Date: 1988
Video and Music
- Empires of Industry: King Coal, (A&E Television Networks), 47:15 min.Streaming video available from American History in Video (Berea College community only). The Legacy of King Coal recounts the story of the rise of the coal industry. Coal, the black gold of the earth, fueled the industrial revolution and the accompanying changes in American culture and the American landscape. The Legacy of King Coal presents the story of the coal barons and the coal miners, their tumultuous relationship, and the painful process of unionization. It also explores the symbiotic relationship of the coal and railroad industries, which transformed America and the world. (from History Channel website)
- Coal Mining WomenCall Number: CD 781.642 C652 1997Publication Date: 1997Coal mining woman / Hazel Dickens (H. Dickens ; 3:56) -- Blue Diamond mines / Jean Ritchie (Phyllis Boyens ; 3:57) -- Dreadful memories / Sarah Gunning (S. Gunning ; 2:12) -- The Yablonski murder / H. Dickens (H. Dickens ; 2:57) -- Lawrence Jones / Si Kahn (P. Boyens ; 2:56) -- Draglines / Deborah Silverstein (Reel World String Band ; 2:51) -- Coal miner’s grave / H. Dickens (H. Dickens ; 5:27) -- Come all you coal miners / S. Gunning (S. Gunning ; 1:56) -- Black lung / H. Dickens (H. Dickens ; 3:21) -- Dream of a miner’s child / adapted by P. Boyens, H. Dickens, and Ken Irwin (P. Boyens ; 2:24) -- The Mannington Mine disaster / H. Dickens (H. Dickens ; 4:32) -- That 25 cents that you paid / Jim Garland (S. Gunning ; 2:41) -- Clay County miner / H. Dickens (H. Dickens ; 4:31) -- Clara Sullivan’s letter / Malvina Reynolds, Pete Seeger (H. Dickens ; 3:42) -- What she aims to be / Sue Massek (Reel World String Band ; 2:26) -- Coal tattoo / Billy Ed Wheeler (H. Dickens ; 2:58) -- Hello coal miner / S. Gunning (S. Gunning ; 4:46) -- The Battle of Jericol / Mary Lou Layne (Reel World String Band ; 2:28) -- Which side are you on? / Florence Reece (F. Reece ; 1:42) -- They’ll never keep us down / H. Dickens (H. Dickens ; 2:41
- BonecrusherCall Number: DVD 622.334 B712 2009Publication Date: 2009In the town of Dante, VA, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, a young coal miner toils a mile underground. Despite the harsh working conditions, Lucas Chaffin takes fierce pride in doing the job once done by the man he loves more than anything, his father. Lucas' father [Luther Trenton Chaffin], nicknamed "Bonecrusher," was a strong, handsome man. Now he's withered and sick; coal dust has ravaged his lungs. As life slips away, his greatest concern isn't for himself; it is for Lucas' safety. Bonecrusher is an intimate and moving account of the love between a father and son and the powerful bond they share, a bond that is put to the test.
- Coalmining WomenCall Number: Video 331.41 C652Publication Date: 1981Women coal miners tell of the economic conditions that led them to seek employment on the coal mines and problems encountered once hired.
