Betty Jean Hall, front right, attends a meeting of the Coal Employment Project in Charleston, W.Va., in 1984. Photo courtesy of Earl Dotter/UMW Journal via AP.
Betty Jean Hall, a pioneering lawyer who dedicated her life to advocating for women in the mining industry, passed away on Aug. 16, 2024, at the age of 78. Her work in the 1970s opened the coal industry to women, a field that had long been dominated by men, with a history steeped in gender discrimination and dangerous working conditions.
She founded the Coal Employment project (CEP) in 1978. The organization filed a federal complaint against 153 coal companies, accusing them of blatant discrimination and demanding they open their ranks to women.
Hall’s efforts resulted in legal settlements that not only provided back pay to women who had been denied jobs but also secured future hiring commitments from mining companies. This landmark achievement allowed women in…
