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]
Baldwin was born on August 31, 1948, to Lelar Baldwin, in Letcher County, Kentucky. She first worked as a waitress, then as receptionist at a medical clinic. During that time, Diana had 3 children. Lori, 1966. Scott, 1968 – 2022. Mark, 1970. Later she married James Roger Gibbs (m. 1982 – 1991). Baldwin moved to South Carolina in 1992 where she received her Commercial driver's license and became an on-the-road truck driver. She met William Christian, a truck driver as well. They were married from 1994 to 2002.[3][4]
In 1973, Baldwin (aged 29) decided that she needed a better-paying job to support her family. She applied for a job at 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. Walter Cronkite did the National News Story on Baldwin in 1973. She also appeared on the National Television show, What's My Line?. She was interviewed by The New York Times in May 1974. Before retirement, Baldwin climbed the ranks of Mine Boss then Assistant Federal Mine Inspector.[5][6][7]
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