Anne Harper

Anne Harper (born 12 October 1941)[1] is a British community organiser, activist and co-founder of the National Women Against Pit Closures (NWAPC) movement from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. She was politically active during the 1984–85 miners' strike as an activist, community organiser and wife of the then President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Arthur Scargill.[2] The couple divorced in 2001.[citation needed]

Harper was integral to community organisation and activism efforts by women to provide welfare within mining communities and to prevent pit closures during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, which was a landmark event in the history of the British labour movement.[3] She remained active through political activism and media appearances during the 1990s.[4] In 2018, Harper was the subject of a play about her life, Queens of the Coal Age, written by Maxine Peake and directed by Bryony Shanahan.[5]

She is best known for her role in the NWAPC movement, her prominence as a public speaker during the 1984–1985 miners' strike and due to her marriage to Scargill. More recently, Harper has been viewed as a pioneer of feminist community activism and discourse by scholars and within the media and arts.[6][5][7][8]

  1. ^ Anne and Betty – United by the struggle – Page 1
  2. ^ Beckett, Francis, Hencke, David (2008). Marching to the Fault Line: The Miners' Strike and the Battle for Industrial Britain. London: Constable. pp. 85–86. ISBN 978-1-84901-025-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Taylor, Robert (1993). The Trade Union Question in British Politics: Government and Unions since 1945. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 292–298. ISBN 0631166262.
  4. ^ Routledge, Paul (1993). Scargill: The Unauthorized Biography. London: HarperCollins. p. 41. ISBN 0002552604.
  5. ^ a b "Queens of the Coal Age". Royal Exchange Theatre. 31 May 2021.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Benyon, Huw, ed. (1985). Digging Deeper: Issues in the Miners' Strike. London: Verso. pp. 169–1179. ISBN 0860918203.