Moms, wives and daughters left behind: Bell Island exhibit commemorates women of mining era | CBC News

Men can often be the focal point of history, as is the case on Bell Island, an island in Newfoundland’s Conception Bay that once was home to a booming iron ore mine. 

But for Teresita McCarthy, the executive director of the Bell Island No. 2 Mine Tour and Museum, it’s time to also recognize the women.

The men worked in the iron ore mines on Bell Island, where the mine supported the community and was a vital resource during the Second World War. The mine eventually closed in 1966. 

But the town’s museum has a new exhibit. Titled The Unsung Heroines, it commemorates the women of Bell Island. 

“There was nothing in this museum that talked about the mothers, the grandmothers, the great-grandmothers who contributed quietly, who contributed daily, who were the backbone of the home,” said McCarthy, adding the Bell Island Heritage Society decided it needed something to memorialize the women. 

The exhibit features three stained glass pieces by artist Pamela King from the Bell Island Stained Glass Company. 

McCarthy was involved in the process of creating the art pieces from the beginning. She said she decided what themes should be represented, including the garden, the home and when the miners were lost. 

A total of 107 men were killed in the mine, said McCarthy.

“They left behind mothers, they left behind wives, they left behind daughters, but they left behind an entire family that had to be looked after by somebody,” she said.

McCarthy says a piece of herself and King went into the artwork. Their mothers and grandmothers were a part of the mining-era on Bell Island. 

The Garden, The Home and The Whistle

The three pieces represent the lives of women on Bell Island during the mining years. 

McCarthy wanted the places where women spent most of their time to be represented, including the garden. 

She says agriculture was very popular on Bell Island during the mining-era, so women spent a lot of time in their gardens and looking after the livestock, while their husbands worked in the mine. 

In The Garden piece, the sheep have a tinge of pink because the iron ore dust made everything pink. 

“The laundry that you put on the line was pink, the sheep were pink, the white cats were pink, the cows were pink,” said McCarthy. 

The Home represents the mother’s duties in the home, including washing dishes and taking care of the children. The Whistle depicts a mother praying for her 14-year-old son, who is working in the mine where her husband died. 

This was a common reality for the women of Bell Island, whose husbands died and children had to work in their place. The title refers to the whistle that blew for each shift in the mine, including the 8 a.m. shift, noon for lunch, 4 p.m. for the evening shift and midnight, which McCarthy’s father called “the graveyard shift.” 

“So it is a very emotional, very poignant, but a very real reality for the women of the mining-era,” said McCarthy.

“One-hundred-seven men lost their lives in the mine. That means 107 families were left to look after the children and other family members when the men were no longer present.” 

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