Anita Cherry was an American practical nurse and coal miner. She and

Diana Baldwin Diana Baldwin was an American hospital receptionist and miner. She and Anita Cherry, hired as miners in 1973, are believed to have been the first women to work in an underground coal mine in the United States. They were the first female member ...

, hired as miners in 1973, are believed to have been the first women to work in an underground coal mine in the United States. They were the first female members of

United Mine Workers of America The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...

to work inside a mine. Cherry and Baldwin were hired by the Beth-Elkhorn Coal Company in

Jenkins, Kentucky Jenkins is a home rule-class city in Letcher County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,203 as of the 2010 census. History In autumn of 1911, the Consolidation Coal Company purchased the current location of Jenkins as part of a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Anita People from Letcher County, Kentucky American coal miners Trade unionists from Kentucky American women trade unionists Women in mining