Carrie Barefoot Dickerson (24 May 1917 – 17 November 2006) was an American activist who led citizen efforts to stop construction of the proposed
Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant
The Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear power plant proposed by the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) in May 1973. It was cancelled in 1982.
History
The facility was to be built approximately 3 miles southwest of downtown Inola, O ...
in
Oklahoma.
Life
Dickerson was born in
Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Okmulgee is a city in, and the county seat of, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. The name is from the Mvskoke word ''okimulgee,'' which means "boiling waters".Bamburg, Maxine"Okmulgee,"''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Accessed June 16 ...
, in 1917 to a pioneering family. She attended the Rocky Hill and Nuyaka Mission schools. At
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
she studied home economics education and nutrition, earning BS and MS degrees. She married
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
dairy farm
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...
er (and fellow OSU graduate) Charles Robert Dickerson in 1938. They established a farm east of
Claremore, Oklahoma
Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country or northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010.[Inola, Oklahoma :''Inola'' is also a spider genus (Pisauridae).
Inola is a town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. It is included in the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area (TMSA). The population was 1,788 at the 2010 census, a 12.5 percent increase fr ...]
. She later taught in several area schools before retiring in 1957. She then opened a home-based bakery. In 1964 she and her husband opened Aunt Carrie's Nursing Home (later called ''Wood Manor'') in Claremore.
After her husband died in early 1981, Dickerson operated a
health food store in Claremore. She closed the store in 2002.
Carrie Dickerson died at Claremore in 2006.
Opposition to nuclear power plant
In 1973 the
Public Service Company of Oklahoma
American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states.
AEP ranks among the nation's largest gen ...
(PSO) announced plans to build the Black Fox
nuclear power plant near Inola. When Dickerson read the news, she began researching the health and environmental risks that could be posed by the power plant. Her findings were largely based on environmental damage caused by effluent from the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
-era
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
. She and another activist, Ilene Younghein, of nearby
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
, formed CASE (Citizens' Action for Safe Energy), to educate the public about the potential dangers.
Following Dickerson's lead, other anti-nuclear organizations were formed in the area, and citizens from all walks of life and ethnic groups joined in the battle. Finally, on February 16, 1982, PSO announced the cancellation of the proposed project.
Legacy
The ''Carrie Dickerson Lifetime Achievement Award,'' presented by the Oklahoma Sustainability Network, is named in her honor.
She wrote the autobiography "Aunt Carrie's War Against the Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant", which was published in 1995.
See also
*
Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
The anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups that oppose nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and/or uranium mining. These have included the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Committee for Nuclear ...
*
Anti-nuclear protests in the United States
The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...
References
Further reading
*Dickerson, Carrie B. and Patricia Lemon (1995).
Black Fox: Aunt Carrie's War Against the Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant'
*Martin, Katherine
''Women of Spirit: Stories of Courage from the Women Who Lived Them''Rogers County Woman Who Fought Black Fox Plant Left Lasting Legacy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickerson, Carrie Barefoot
American anti–nuclear power activists
Activists from Oklahoma
People from Claremore, Oklahoma
1917 births
2006 deaths