Janet Petra Bonnema

Janet Petra Bonnema (November 24, 1938 – May 9, 2008) was an American civil engineer and women's rights activist. She was hired as an engineering technician for the Eisenhower Tunnel construction project in Colorado in 1970, but was barred from performing her work inside the tunnel due to the prevailing superstition that women who went underground in tunnels or mines brought bad luck, endangering the male workers. In 1972 she filed a $100,000 class action lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Highways for sexual discrimination. The state settled the case out of court and she was allowed to enter the tunnel, although she dressed inconspicuously. She became a symbol for equal rights in the workplace. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2012.

Early life and education Janet Petra Bonnema was born in Denver, Colorado, to Peter and Helen Bonnema. She was similarly advised against majoring in engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, and instead graduated with a bachelor's degree in history in 1960. Bonnema applied to the Colorado Department of Highways (CDOT) for a position as an engineering technician for the Eisenhower Tunnel project (then named the Straight Creek Tunnel project). A prevailing superstition, stemming from Welsh miners who came to work in Colorado in the mid-nineteenth century, held that women who descended underground into mines or tunnels would bring bad luck, putting the male workers in danger. This superstition applied to female workers, journalists, and visitors alike. Bonnema continued to dress in coveralls during her subsequent work in the tunnel so as not to attract attention. In April 2011 Colorado State Senator Nancy Spence paid tribute to Bonnema in a speech on the senate floor.

Personal life Bonnema challenged gender stereotypes in her private life as well. She enjoyed skiing, motorcycling, rock climbing, parachuting, piloting, and traveling.