Hi Hannelore,

Do you need information about the current situation of women as miners, or are you also looking for older literature of earlier times?

Are you looking solely for written records, or are you also interested in original photo documents? I have some interesting fotos in my mining postcard collection.

I can recommend a German book that deals specifically with women's mining work in Bolivia (see attached the scans from the front cover, the ISBN number and the back cover).

Best regards,

Guenter

Hi Guenter, 

Thank you for your reply. My research focuses on the (current) lives of female miners in sub-saharan-Africa but I would like to compare/contrast my data with accounts of women miners in south-America. Although I'm working with current lived experiences, historical records are very important as well and I appreciate any references you can give me. I found an English translation of the book you cited, it looks great!

With regards to your postcard collection, do they actual feature female miners? How fascinating! 

Best wishes, 

Hannelore

Hi Hannelore, I send you some journals articles about women in mining activities in Brazil. It seems to occur two contrasting scenarios: 1- new job oportunities; 2- social violence + deseases due to inadequate/not adaptable conditions of work. Unfortunately you may have to use a translator, pages are in portuguese.

Post-graduating thesis: http://www.biblioteca.pucminas.br/teses/Administracao_LimaGS_1.pdf

http://www.bibliotecadigital.ufmg.br/dspace/bitstream/handle/1843/BUOS-8NTGLQ/tese_raquel_quirino.pdf?sequence=1

journal articles

http://istoe.com.br/123914_MULHERES+NA+MINERACAO/

https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2016/07/08/sete-principais-estados-mineradores-tem-312-dos-casos-de-violencia-contra-a-mulher/

Many thanks for the suggested publications. They look very interesting and the kind of information that I'm looking for. Now I'm on the lookout for a translator :-)

Hi Hannelore,

The answer is yes, my picture postcards actually show female miners!

I have found 15 examples from South American countries in my collection. Of these, I show you here attached two copies from Bolivia. The black / white original photo shows female miners doing ore crushing with a hammer on a stone base (Corro Corro copper mine, ca. 1950).

The colored, publicly venal postcard, sent march 18th 1992. The picture shows women washing tin ore from the alluvial sand at Oruro, a famous mining town in Bolivia.

A picture is worth a thousand words! You can read from the images independently.

Do you want to see more? I have a lot from Japan.

Best wishes,

Guenter

The postcards are mesmerizing, women miners playing a starring rol in postcards. I guess people thought this scene was kind of 'exotic' maybe? Do you have pictures of women carrying out underground work? And yes do send the other pictures including the Japanese ones, when you find the time. 

In my library I have found an interesting book on "Women and Mining" (see Title attached). It is an exhibition catalog of the German Mining Museum in Bochum, exhibition from August 29 to December 10, 1989. Since I have a duplicate, I could send this by mail. What is your mailing address?

You asked: "I guess people thought this scene was kind of 'exotic' maybe?"

This image on the colored postcard, I sent you, is not "exotic". On the contrary: It is a common sight in some South American countries, that women are still working in in small (private) "cooperativa", which are independent of large mining corporations.

I have visited 25 active state mining operations in Bolivia in the year 1987th. During this time I have not seen any women working underground.

Best,

Guenter

Dear Guenter, 

What I meant with 'exotic' was that I assume people who were at the receiving end of the postcard probably thought of the scenery as 'exotic'. I say this because I received similar reactions to the pictures I took while on fieldwork in Tanzania. To many people in the west, mining is a male activity - they do not expect to see women unearthing ores. In this respect they forget women performed a lot of mining activities here too, for example in the coal mines in Belgium. What I'm getting at is that for many women in the past and in the present, carrying out mining activities is an everyday reality. 

The book looks very interesting. 

My address: 

Hannelore Verbrugge

Bakkerstraat 1

8940 Wervik

Belgium 

Of course, I will pay the shipping charges. How can I do this?