Betty Jean Hall, an influential Appalachian attorney and federal administrative judge, passed away at 78. Hall, who resided in Cary, N.C. following her retirement in 2019, died on Friday, her daughter Tiffany Olsen reported. A native of Kentucky, Hall earned her bachelor’s degree from Berea College in 1968 and later studied law at Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. In 1977, she founded the Coal Employment Project, a Tennessee-based advocacy group aimed at integrating women into the coal mining workforce.
Hall’s interest in women pursuing careers in mining was ignited after discovering a Tennessee mining company refused to allow women to tour its mine, let alone work there. Before her advocacy, the presence of women in coal mining was virtually nonexistent, due to a long-standing myth that a mine, seen as a female entity, would become ‘jealous’ if another woman entered its depths.
The Coal Employment Project, under Hall’s leadership, aggressively pursued mining companies across the U.S., filing anti-discrimination lawsuits to pressure them into hiring women. Davitt McAteer, former assistant secretary for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, noted Hall’s straightforward argument for gender equality, emphasizing that women required income just as men did, particularly for supporting their families.
Hall’s arguments often highlighted the stark economic choices women faced. “If women had to choose between making $6,000 a year in a factory and mining coal for $60 or more a day,” Hall told The New York Times in 1979, “they’ll go into the mines.” She dismissed notions that coal mining was excessively harsh by comparing it to the equally strenuous work of housework and low-wage factory jobs.
The impact of the Coal Employment Project was swift. Within a year, the organization had filed a lawsuit against 153 coal companies for gender bias. By December 1978, a landmark settlement with Consolidation Coal Company awarded $370,000 to 70 women denied jobs and mandated the hiring of one woman for every four men. This initiative led to the rapid increase of women miners to 830 by the end of 1978, and over 4,000 by the mid-1980s.
Beyond securing mining jobs for women, the Coal Employment Project, under Hall’s direction, was instrumental in advocating for paid parental leave, contributing to the establishment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The organization also provided vital resources such as training, annual conferences, and support groups for female miners.
“She was our mother,” said Kipp Dawson, a former coal miner and friend of Hall. Dawson emphasized that the organization’s collective voice garnered more respect and facilitated significant changes in the industry.
Hall helmed the Coal Employment Project from 1977 to 1988. She was later appointed as an administrative appeals judge for the U.S. Department of Labor Benefits Review Board in 2001, where she streamlined the review process for workers’ compensation and black lung benefits claims.
Jim Branscome, a retired journalist and financial professional who knew Hall since their college days, credited her success to her ‘fearless’ nature and impeccable timing, which aligned with a growing feminist movement. Her initial funding came from a grant by Gloria Steinem’s Ms. Foundation for Women, and she was honored by Ms. Magazine early in her career. Branscome lauded her as being “tougher than John Henry’s steel driving tools” and capable of defeating even the most polished law firms with the backing of coal-mining women.
United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts praised Hall as a “remarkable woman” and fearless advocate who fundamentally transformed the coal mining industry for women. Reflecting on her legacy, he cited the words of Mother Jones: “Whatever your fight, don’t be ladylike,” emphasizing that Hall embodied this spirit by breaking barriers and creating opportunities for countless women in mining.
Hall is survived by her daughter Tiffany Olsen and her husband Kevin Olsen, her son Timothy Burke, two grandchildren, and her sister Janet Smith.
