Diana Baldwin

Diana Baldwin was an American hospital receptionist. She and Anita Cherry were the first women to work as underground coal miners in the United States,[1] despite the belief in the coalfields that women were bad luck in mines.[2]

Diana Baldwin
Born(1948-08-31)August 31, 1948
Letcher County, Kentucky, US
DiedMay 28, 2016(2016-05-28) (aged 67)
South Carolina, US

Early life

Baldwin was born on August 31, 1948 to Lelar Baldwin, in Letcher County, Kentucky. She first worked as a waitress, then a receptionist at a medical clinic. Although she never married, she did have several children.[3][4]

Coal mining career

In 1973, Baldwin (aged 29) decided that she needed a better paying job to support her family. She applied for a job in a coal mine operated by the Beth-Elkhorn coal company in Jenkins, Kentucky. It was believed that women would bring cave-ins, explosions, and fires, despite this, she was hired by the coal company, soon after, she was brought to national attention as the first woman to work in an underground coal mine.[5][6][7]

References
  1. "A Brief History of Women in Mining". DOL Blog. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  2. Toledo Blade. Toledo Blade.
  3. "Nation's first female miner remembered - The Mountain Eagle". The Mountain Eagle -. June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  4. Kentucky New Era. Kentucky New Era.
  5. Gearhart, Dona G (January 1, 1995). ""Surely, a wench can choose her own work!" Women coal miners in Paonia, Colorado, 1976-1987". UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. doi:10.25669/83uw-c7cr.
  6. The Sumter Daily Item. The Sumter Daily Item.
  7. Klemesrud, Judy (May 18, 1974). "In Coal Mine No. 29, Two Women Work Alongside the Men". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
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