"A Voice for Women and the Working Class:" A 9to5 Activist on the Musician who Inspired Her

Hazel Dickens, Voice For Women and the Working Class, Dies at 75

On April 22, 2011, we lost not only a pioneer in country and bluegrass music, but also a voice for women and the working class.  Her name was Hazel Dickens and she was 75.

She was born in Mercer County, West Virginia, one of eleven children and began singing professionally when she was only 16.  After her eldest brother died from a mining-related disease, it was clear to Hazel that he had lived paycheck to paycheck and that there was no money to bury him.  She realized then that here was something deeply wrong with how the economy worked.  She started to comment on how unrelenting and crippling mining life was in “Black Lung,” and went on to write “They’ll Never Keep Us Down,” an anthem to unions and miners.  She donated her vocals in the Oscar-winning documentary, “Harlan County, U.S.A.” and she appeared in John Sayles’s film, “Matewan,” based on real events, about the poor treatment of immigrants and minorities in the 1920s South.

Initially scared to speak out about the mistreatment of women in the workplace, she found the courage to do just that in some of her best-known music, “Working Girl Blues” and “Don’t Put Her Down, You Put Her There.”  She won many national awards and her songs were sung by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, the Judds and Johnny Cash. 

At a time when it was neither safe nor fashionable to speak out for human rights, Hazel Dickens let her voice inspire and uplift others.  Give yourself a treat and listen to her—she made important in-roads for all of us.

-Kathy Kelly, 9to5 Activist Network member, New York