Anne Harper

Anne Harper (12 October 1941 – 10 April 2025), commonly known by her married name Anne Scargill, was 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.

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. She remained active through political activism and media appearances during the 1990s. 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.

She was 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.

Early life and marriage to Arthur Scargill Anne Harper was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 12 October 1941, third of four children of Elliot Harper,

Harper married Arthur Scargill, who was also an elected member of the Trade Union branch committee at Woolley Colliery, at Gawber Parish Church on 16 September 1961.

Once Scargill was elected as President of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1981, Harper frequently accompanied him to rallies and picket lines to protest against the planned downsizing of the coal industry in Britain, especially in response to economic and social impact of this on individuals and communities.

Political, community organisation and activism activities During the 1984–1985 miners' strike, Anne Harper led women in picketing at collieries that were threatened with closure. Along with Lyn Hathaway, Liz Hollis and Audrey Moor, who was an organiser from the Nottinghamshire Women's Support Group, Harper often appeared at picket lines to support the miners' cause. Local authorities and even the miners themselves, some of whom felt that women were out of place at these scenes, objected to the women's presence at picket lines. Following this incident, the NUM recognised that the presence female protesters could ameliorate the public image of the strike and held a meeting to discuss a possible new NWAPC office at the NUM headquarters in Sheffield. As contentions amongst supporters of the strike towards the NUM grew, this association became increasingly controversial within the NWAPC. Mr John Paul Getty Jr., philanthropist and son of a renowned oil magnate, donated £100,000 to the campaign the week after it was launched.

Participants in the NWAPC movement went to Belgium, Holland and France on fund-raising trips and to speak to on trade unionists platforms about the UK miners' strike. Later that year, on 10 and 11 November, the National Women's Organisation was formed at a national conference of women's action groups. This splinter group within the NWAPC movement aimed to campaign for better education and political representation for working-class women; to develop ties with the NUM and support this organisation in its goals for and beyond the miners' strike to prevent pit closures and promote welfare through education and health in mining communities. The group also set out with a published plan to campaign for economic stability and peace within these communities.