Hazel Dickens inducted into the West Virginia Hall of Fame at Pipestem

On Saturday May 31, Hazel Dickens was inducted into the West Virginia Hall of Fame at Pipestem Park in Pipestem, WV. The Hall of Fame is a project of The Pipestem Foundation, a charitable organization which maintains the Pipestem Resort State Park in the southern part of the state.

Though much of her musical success occurred while she was living in Washington, DC, Hazel was born and raised in West Virginia, and her primary passions for coal miners and the poverty-stricken people of the mining regions were formed living there as a girl and a young woman.

Bluegrass lovers know Dickens for her many contributions to the repertoire, like Mama’s Hand, You’ll Get No More of Me, A Few Old Memories, Scraps From Your Table, and Won’t You Come and Sing For Me, and her recordings, both on her own and with Alice Gerrard.

The following triubte was read during the induction:

Hazel Dickens was born on June 1, 1925, and spent her formative years in Montcalm, West Virginia.

As a singer, songwriter, and social activist, Hazel Dickens distinguished herself in a bluegrass music career spanning over fifty years. She served as a role model for women performers in bluegrass, old-time, and country music.

Although soft-spoken and reserved, she left a body of songs that spoke loudly for the condition of her fellow men and women. Her songs also painted wistful images of her native West Virginia and the mountain people she knew.

Hazel utilized her music to advocate for non-unionized mine workers and feminists.

She penned several songs about the lives of miners and wrote a song titled Black Lung about her brother, Thurman, who succumbed to the disease.

Additionally, she wrote Coal Mining Women about the hardships women faced in the coal mining world.

Dickens came to be regarded as an activist and a voice for the working people.

Hazel passed away on April 22, 2011, in Washington, DC.