Women in Kentucky - Reform

Joan Robinett: “We didn’t organize the citizens group to get folks from all over the county to call us,” says Robinett. “We were focused. But it happened. People from all over the county started calling me about all kinds of environmental problems and other problems, and I wouldn’t turn them away. I knew the nightmares we were having, and we had learned that the way to prevent disasters, other Dayhoits, from happening is that people need to be aware.”

Joan Robinett has become the person to call in Harlan County if you want help making your voice be heard. Her organizing skills were first put to use after it was discovered that the well water in Dayhoit contained carcinogens as a result of dumping by the National Electric Coil plant. She quickly organized and became the chairperson of Concerned Citizens Against Toxic Waste. It took seven years but the case against National Electric Coil was finally settled. In the meantime, Robinett—and the surrounding community—had learned that Robinett had organizing skills that could be put to use on a host of problems in the area. Since this discovery, she has worked on issues ranging from excessive water bills to lack of safe roads and illegal dumping. Perhaps her biggest overall success has been getting community members to attend fiscal court meetings in order to learn more about the actions of their local government so that they can be sure that their voices are heard when decisions are being made.

“People watch for the court agenda to be printed in the paper and sometimes go to meetings even if their issue isn’t slated for discussion, just to see what’s going on.”

Summarized from: Robin Epstein. 1999. Citizen Power: Stories of America’s New Civic Spirit. Democracy Resource Center: Lexington, Kentucky. Used with permission.

Visit the Democracy Resource Center web page to learn more about grassroots movements in Kentucky, or to order a copy of Citizen Power: Stories of America’s New Civic Spirit.

Click here to get informations in german!

Newsletter
Site Overview

Sitemap:

A. What

Art
Business
Education
Health/Medicine
Journalism
Law
Literature
Military
Music
Performing Arts
Pioneer
Public Service
Reform
Religion
Science
Sports

B. When

View a selected history of women
View a selected history of women
Sounds and images
Civil War Diaries

C. Where

Central / Northern Kentucky
Western Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky
Southern Kentucky

D.Resources

Links
Selected Readings
Educational Tools
Web tools
Archival Collections
Children's Books

E. About this Project

Women in Sports:

Minnie Adkins
Elizabeth Barret, Anne Lewis, Mimi Pickering, & Justine Richardson
Jane Burch Cochran
Joan Dance
Enid Yandell

Women in Business:

Nelda Barton-Collings
Julia Dinsmore
Laura Freeman
Mattie Mack
Lena Madesin Phillips
Caroline Burnam Taylor

Women in Education:

Helen Lew Lang
Katherine Pettit
Jane Stephenson
Cora Wilson Stewart

Women in Health/Medicine:

Mary Britton
Linda Neville
Ora Framer Porter
Louise Southgate, M.D.

Women in Journalism:

Linda Boileau
Alice Allison Dunnigan

Women in Law:

Pearl Carter Pace
Lt. Colonel Linda Smith

Women in Literature:

Effie Waller Smith

Women in Military:

Lt. Anna Mac Clarke
Capt. Helen Horlacher Evans
Julia Ann Marcum

Women in Music:

Sarah Ogan Gunning
Helen Humes
Lily May Ledford
Reel World String Band
Jean Ritchie
Mary Wheeler

Women as Pioneers:

Esther Whitley

Women in Public Service:

Governor Martha Layne Collins
Emma Guy Cromwell
Rep. Mary Elliott Flanery
Sen. Georgia Davis Powers
Lt. Gov. Thelma Stovall

Women in Reform:

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge
Laura Clay
Eula Hall
Josephine Henry
Belinda Mason
Lois Morris
Eliza Caroline Calvert Obenchain
Charlotte Richardson
Joan Robinett
Mary Sue Whayne
Corinne Whitehead
Evelyn Williams

Women in Religion:

Eldress Nancy Moore
Rabbi Gaylia Rooks

Women in Science:

Sarah Frances Price
Ellen Churchill Semple

Women in Sports:

Terri Cecil-Ramsey
Geri Grigsby
Audrey Whitlock Peterson
Mary T. Meagher Plant