Coal Employment Project

Organization

Staff Only

Biography

In the spring of 1977 members of two Jacksboro, Tennessee public interest groups, the East Tennessee Research Corporation (ETRC) and Save Our Cumberland Mountains, planned a trip into an underground mine in Campbell County, Tennessee. Upon learning that a woman was to be on the tour, the local mine operator refused permission for her to go underground because of the superstition, long held by male miners, that women are "bad luck" in the mines. As a consequence of this incident, ETRC's director, Neil McBride, contacted a friend, Betty Jean Hall, then working as a lawyer in a Washington, D.C. firm, to do research on both women in mining and federal law on gender discrimination in hiring miners. Hall complied with McBride's request and provided the information.

Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:

Coal Employment Project (CEP) Records

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: AppMs-0355

Scope and Contents The CEP records document not only the daily operations of the organization but also the extensive activities the organization undertook in its support of women miners. Among the types of documents contained in the collection are financial ledgers and balance sheets; grant proposals; personnel leave and hiring records; correspondence between CEP staff members in their different offices; agenda and programs for the CEP national conferences of women miners; audio and videotapes concerning...

Dates: 1977-1991

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / Coal Employment Project (CEP) Records

Kipp Dawson Papers

Collection

Identifier: AppMs-0826

Scope and Contents The Kipp Dawson Papers reflect Kipp Dawson’s roles as woman coalminer, scholar, and political organizer, as well as her affiliations with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and the Coal Employment Project (CEP). The papers contain research papers and notes; newspaper clippings; publications; teaching materials; surveys of Pennsylvania women miners; correspondence with Donnie Thornsbury; and minutes, newsletters, and related materials of the Pennsylvania Support Group of the Coal...

Dates: 1974-1994

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / Kipp Dawson Papers

June M. Rostan Papers

Collection — Other Boxes 1-4

Identifier: AppMs-0436

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into three series. Series 1, Personal Papers, 1975-1982; Series 2, Professional Papers, 1976-1994; Series 3, Audio Cassettes, undated.

Dates: 1975-1994

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / June M. Rostan Papers

Women Coal Miners Reunion

Collection

Identifier: AppMs-0882

Scope and Contents

The Women Coal Miners reunion brought together current and former women coal miners and their families from the United States and England. The event was organized by Marat Moore and held in Jonesborough, Tennessee at the Archives of Appalachia, the Jonesborough Repertory Theatre and the host hotel. This collection consists of materials generated for and during the event, including excerpts from video interviews with 13 women coal miners and the son of a woman coal miner.

Dates: 2-4 August 2013

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / Women Coal Miners Reunion