Family History

Recently I had the good fortune to connect with Dominic "Bert" Bertinetti. His family's connection to the Illinois Mine War is truly remarkable.

Bert's grandmother is Emma Cumerlatto, a mine war martyr who was shot on her porch in Kincaid, IL on January 3, 1933. No one was ever punished for the murder.

Her funeral was attended by thousands and the procession extended miles from Taylorville to Kincaid. Women's Auxiliary President, Agnes Burnes Wiecke offered an inspired eulogy although she was frequently interrupted by the military aircraft buzzing the solemn event below.

Emma Cumerlatto Family - Emma is pictured on the right. Her daughter
and Dominic's mother, Mary is the young girl in the lower center of this
photograph which was taken about 1915. (courtesy of Dominic Bertinetti).

Bert's father is Dominic Bertinetti. He was the victim of a drive-by shooting at PMA headquarters in Springfield, IL on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1935. Although PMA leader, Edris Mabie was killed, fortunately Bertinetti survived the attack . The car's occupants included UMWA District 12 President Ray Edmundson. However, Edmundson and his accomplices were never tried because a coroner’s inquest returned an open verdict and failed to fix blame for the murder.

Remarkably, Bertinetti is also the nephew of Robert Shingleton. Shingleton was arrested and convicted of murder along with four other men after the accidental shooting of 12 year old Laverne Miller. Shingleton and a peer were members of the UMWA while the three others were members of the Progressive Miners. Popularly referred to as “The DuQuoin Boys,” former PMA newspaper editor Gerry Allard led a nation-wide campaign to win their release. In a rare instance of cooperation, the UMWA and PMA worked collaboratively to secure their freedom, along with a number of social justice advocates. Those included Roger Baldwin, Upton Sinclair, John Dos Passos and Suzanne LaFollette.

A pardon was signed by Illinois Governor Stelle on Xmas Eve, 1940

Cherry Mine Disaster at the Abraham Lincoln Library

Here's part one of a ten-part YouTube video series on the 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster. This panel discussion was hosted by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on January 26, 2010.

The tragedy resulted in the loss of 259 lives. And as is often the case, those deaths provided the necessary impetus for new safety regulations in the mines.

Here's the link to another site on the disaster. It includes an impressive collection of photos including this one.

The Cherry Mine Disaster is an important event to remember this Labor Day and for many to come.

Road To Hell

This past week marks the 78th anniversary of the events which incited the Illinois Mine War.

United Mine Workers District 12 had been on strike in Illinois since April, 1932. On August 6, 1932, a referendum was held to determine whether its members would accept the coal operators proposal - a decline in wages from $6.10/day to $5.00/day. Four days later the ballots were stolen.

UMWA rallies West Frankfort miners during the strike.

The Nation magazine reported:

"…before the votes could be counted, and in fact while the ballot boxes were being transported…to the district headquarters of the United Mine Workers where they were to be opened and the votes tallied, the boxes were stolen by two armed men.

John L. Lewis, international president, promptly declared that an emergency existed and that under his emergency powers he would have to order the new contract to take effect immediately.

Obviously, nothing was said in the Lewis announcement concerning the fact that ownership of the automobile in which the two thugs were riding had been traced to Fox Hughes, vice-president of the Illinois district of the United Mine Workers and one of Lewis’s henchmen. It is not surprising that a new revolt against the Lewis-Walker leadership is spreading among the Illinois miners, who are continuing the strike despite Lewis’ order."

The Nation, August 24, 1932

This bit of burlesque characterized the feelings of many of Illinois miners at that time:

John L. Lewis blew the whistle;
John H. Walker rang the bell;
Fox Hughes stole the ballots,
and the miners wages went to hell.

"It Was A Night To Remember."

The Colonial Theater in Gillespie, IL was often used as a community meeting hall when large numbers needed to assemble.

During the UMWA strike in the spring of 1932, UMWA District 12 President, John Walker came to Gillespie to argue for the wage reductions supported by John L. Lewis and the mine owners.

Photo courtesy of Jill Secoy

Western Illinois University Professor Emeritus, Victor Hicken attended the meeting:

"I was only about 10 and I went there with my mother.

He [John Walker] got about ten minutes into his speech and all of sudden you had these people getting up. And it seems to me that the first fellow to get up was a Scot by the name of Easton. And he tore into Walker. And when he sat down somebody else got up and tore into Walker.

And right in the middle of this, I was sitting there – a hunk of plaster from the ceiling came right down and landed on my lap – just missed my head. It scared the living daylights out of me. But that didn’t interrupt anything.

I mean from that time on Walker I don’t think ever finished his speech. He had to walk off if I remember correctly, he didn’t finish his speech.

It was a night to remember."

This meeting was characteristic of the inability of the UMWA leadership to win rank and file support for the reduced wage. After losing two contract elections, Lewis seized power by declaring an emergency to impose the new contract. Lewis' actions precipitated violence and bloodshed for years to come.

Superior #4 ~ Wilsonville

Here's a photo of Superior #4 in Wilsonville, IL. This was the site of the famous Wilsonville Sitdown Strike. Click here to learn more about the strike and to see a contemporary photo of the site.

Photo provided courtesy of Wayne Hinton

Hand Crafted From Coal

John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 - 1960 is still revered among many retired coal miners.

This Lewis bust was sculpted from a lump of coal by Mid-West Crafts in Pikeville, KY. It was provided courtesy of the Christian County Coal Mine Museum.

Yesterday and Today

Two views of the Staunton Labor Temple.The first was taken in the early 1930's and the other photograph was made this spring.

Nice to see a labor hub regarded as postcard-worthy in its day. At the same time, it's difficult to see that happening today.



Staunton was also the launching point for the Mulkeytown March. More on that here. You can also view the route of the march by clicking on the Google Mine War Map in the right column

Thanks again to Sean Burns for sharing the post card.

Mill Shadows: "Organize our strength as a working class."

Initially, an important part of the Progressive Miners’ program was to raise the class consciousness of its members and the broader community.

Tom Tippett, formally of the Brookwood Labor College was hired to head the PMA’s first Education Department. In a letter to the membership and auxiliaries Tippet wrote; “Our notion of an education activity is anything that will enable us better to organize our strength as a working class….We should like to set up classes in public speaking, in the writing and production of labot plays, in singing songs of labor, and we want to bring in outside speakers.”

Tippett was an author as well as an organizer and former miner. His play, Mill Shadows tells the story of workers who rebel and change their town from an industrial village to a union community. The play was directed by Tippett and cast by members of the Women’s Auxiliary.

Mill Shadows was performed in mining communities across Illinois with a final performance in St. Louis.

Thanks to Sean Burns for sharing this handbill.


In her memoirs housed at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Irene Allard describes how she was cast as “Granny” in the play:

I went to the Colonial Theater to try out and he [Tom Tippett] ignored me. He wouldn’t even let me read. And I was so unhappy when I went home I almost cried that he didn’t even let have a chance.

He chose a woman that the leading character in the Mill Shadows was a mountain woman. Sixty-five years old who walked with a cane and smoked a pipe…

Anyhow then Gerry [Allard] and I went to Chicago to ‘Free Mooney’ conference, convention. And we were gone about a week.

And when we came back I went right up to Tom’s office, “How’s Mill Shadows?” And he was a very dramatic person and he used his hands, you know.

And he starts pulling his hair, “It’s not going right. This woman that was to portray Granny, she couldn’t memorize the part. She hadn’t got beyond the first act. And we’ve got two weeks before opening night.”

So while he’s dramatizing there a little boy walked in, handed him a note and he read it and he turned to me and said, “Be at the theater at two o’clock.”

And I looked at him. I said, “What do you mean be at the theater at two o’clock.”

He says, “You’re Granny.”

And I said, “I’m not Granny.”

I said, “I wanted to be – (they had, one of the girls was named Irene.) I said, “I wanted to be Irene and you wouldn’t let me read for it. How can I be Granny?”

“You be at the theater at two o’clock.” Well, I was there at two o’clock and I became Granny. And that was one of the fun times in my life because it was something I never dreamed I could do.

Falling Backwards

“It was not unusual for the mine executive to come to the mine and conduct an investigation if a mule was injured or killed. But no such investigation ever took place when a miner was killed.”

~~ Jack Battuello describes 1920's mining conditions in Illinois.

Labor unions are commonly considered in a narrow light; organizations which bargain and press for better pay and benefits for their members. However, that's far too limited a view when thinking of organized labor in the coal fields. As Battuello and his peers knew all too well, mine owners were obsessed with profits and considered human life disposable. The fight for humane safety standards was a rallying cry that contributed to the growth of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in the early 20th century. And to this day the UMWA continues to play a important role in improving safety conditions in mines.


Although mules are no longer part of the mining industry, the callous disregard for human life in the mines seems to endure. And due to decades of persistent erosion of labor rights in the U.S., the UMWA lacks the influence and power it once held in the industry. In an unsafe mine, non-union workers are presented with the unenviable option to either speak up and be fired, or pipe down and pray for the best.


Government regulators offer little relief. As part of the coal companies' obstinate drive for profits, massive political campaign contributions and lobbying ensure that the enforcement of mine safety standards are diluted adequately to allow unsafe mines to operate without the obligation to correct life-threatening conditions. But after decades of anti-regulatory "free market" hyperbole and policy, should anyone be surprised?


In response to Upper Big Branch Mine tragedy, last night MSNBC's Rachel Maddow interviewed the excellent Jeff Biggers on the causes of mine disasters.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Massey Energy Company, led by its notorious CEO Don Blankenship appears to be culpable in this latest tragedy. And if the opportunity exists, I sincerely hope those responsible are held criminally liable. But Massey thrives not because of any one individual, but because our system is built to support reckless greed.

While coal mining will never be completely safe, it's clear that miners represented by the UMWA work in safer mines and are less likely to die on the job than workers with no union protections. If elected officials really want to address this problem, they need to end the widespread union-busting common in the coal industry and put teeth back into mine safety regulations.

I'll believe that when I see it.

p.s. - Kudos to the Ken Ward, Jr. at the Charleston Gazette's blog Coal Tattoo. Their coverage of this tragedy is second to none.

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April 8 Update - Here's a link to a press release from the United Mine Workers on Massey Energy Company's safety record.

This excerpt speaks to the inadequacy of mine safety regulation enforcement in the U.S.:

"Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) observed, 'It’s quite evident something went very wrong here.' Stricklin went on to say that 'all explosions are preventable'...

However, MSHA has been prevented from taking more aggressive action at this mine because the operator has contested over 30 percent of the violations, leaving them in limbo until adjudicated by the Federal Mine Health and Safety Review Commission (FMHSRC). 'That means no pattern of violations can be readily established at this mine, leaving MSHA without the ability to use stronger enforcement powers,' [UMWA President Cecil] Roberts said."

"To Our Militant Leader...From Militant Admirers"

I had the great fortune to interview Sean Burns this week. Sean is a descendant of Agnes Burns Wieck, the first president of the Illinois Women's Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners of America. Agnes was a legendary organizer, gifted leader and political visionary.

Detail from Agnes' quilt. The inscription reads,
"To Our Militant Leader" "From Militant Admirers"

In addition to providing a thoughtful and heart-felt interview, Sean was kind enough to bring along family photos and a rare artifact, a hand-made quilt given to Agnes by her supporters shortly before completing her term in office. The names of each of the women who created the quilt are also embroidered into the fabric in bright red thread.

You can read more about Agnes in an earlier post here. The best account of her remarkable life can be found in Woman from Spillertown: A Memoir of Agnes Burns Wieck by her son David Thoreau Wieck.

I'll be sharing more from my interview with Sean in future posts.

Mine War Site - Mine "B"

Mine shaft location - Mine "B", Springfield, IL.

In the 1930's, Mine "B" was owned by Carl Elshoff, and was organized by the Progressive Miners following their split from the UMWA. The Progressives later struck the mine after the UMWA attempted to assert control over the labor force. FBI records indicate that John L. Lewis provided funds to Elshoff to help him break the PMA strike.

Recommending the indictment of Lewis in a 1943 memo , Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Wendell Berge wrote, "Throughout the history of the trade union movement, agreements between a labor union and an employer to the detriment of a rival union, however bitter the enmity, have been despised and deemed treasonable and traitorous to the cause of labor."

However, no federal indictments were ever issued against Lewis or District 12.

Pressure From Below

When considering the political fallout of the Great Depression, one has to wonder why the U.S. moved leftward, enacting a number of social and economic reforms. In Europe for example, the economic crisis provided an opportunity for fascist parties to win control in Germany and Italy.

Unemployed Council protest in Bloomington, IL - 1933
(Courtesy of McLean County Museum of History)

One reason was there was considerable organized resistance from the working class. At Pantagraph.com, Bill Kemp, archivist/librarian for the McLean County Museum of History shares a great story today on the Unemployed Council in Bloomington, IL.

Kemp writes, "the local Unemployed Council, led by Bloomington resident C. 'Hank' Mayer, seemed everywhere, organizing street actions, petitioning local governments and trading barbs in The Pantagraph with those who did not share its Popular Front (or communist-allied) prescriptions to right the faltering economy. Members of the group also undertook actions such as illegally restoring water service for out-of-work residents who failed to pay their bills."

Such organized resistance was common and widespread. And it pressured a nervous government to act. As historian Victor Hicken noted, "This country came awfully close to changing governments."

While one has to resist the urge to draw direct parallels between the 1930's and now, I have no doubt that well organized mass resistance today might induce government officials to venture outside of their corporate-fabricated gilded cage.

In Memorium ~ Evanell Williams (1925-2009)

Last week I was saddened to learn that Evanell Williams died on Christmas Eve, 2009. I had the good fortune to meet her late last summer when I conducted an interview with her husband, Ben for this project. (His father was a member of the United Mine Workers during the Mine War. Ben is a former miner and continues the fight for worker's rights as an active retiree with the UMWA.)

After the interview, I sat and visited with the couple for awhile. Eventually we meandered outside to look at their lush garden next to the house. To thank them for their hospitality, I shot a quick portrait of the couple there.

Ben and Evanell Williams

As it turned out, a cropped version of that photo was used for Evanell's obituary. I'm glad they liked the photo, but also sad that it was needed for that purpose.

Here's a link to her obituary published in the Harrisburg Register. My sincere condolences to Ben and his family.

Book Review ~ Reckoning At Eagle Creek

In Jeff Biggers’ new book, Reckoning At Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal In The Heartland, he quotes a friend: “The abuse of the land is always connected to the abuse of the people.” This theme resonates throughout as Biggers entwines family history with industrial, labor, native and environmental histories of Southern Illinois.

This abuse came with the relentless drive to extract coal from the region. Mining shovels stripped away not only farmland and homesteads but also “ripped out the roots of invaluable historic sites and stories, such as the secret black slave cemetery that had helped to give birth to the coal industry, and churned them into unrecognizable dust.”

I was delighted that Jeff chose to include a mine war image that I unearthed to open chapter 1. The photograph depicts the strikebreaking Illinois state militia protecting Peabody Mine Number 7 in Kincaid. Even better, the picture introduces a chapter that speaks to contemporary government coal policy, including recent corporate welfare extended to Peabody Energy paid for by Illinois taxpayers. The juxtaposition suggests Peabody’s reliance on government support hasn’t changed much in the last 80 years.

However, I don’t fully agree with Biggers' characterization of the Illinois Mine War. On the contract election which incited the District 12 split, he writes, “When ballots for the vote on the new accord disappeared in Illinois, throwing the union into disarray, Lewis invoked his authority and signed the agreement.”

There is evidence that the ballots didn’t just disappear, but instead were stolen by a Lewis loyalist when it became clear that the election was lost. District 12 Vice President Fox Hughes (who also played a cowardly role in the Herrin Massacre ten years earlier) was seen driving off with the ballots. Lewis seized this moment and usurped the legitimate authority of the ballot box to replace it with his own autocratic rule. Democracy didn’t return to District 12 for decades.

Later, Biggers writes, “the most tragic ‘war’ was not between the miners and the coal companies, but between the miners themselves.” This is a common generalization about the mine war which is incomplete, and does an injustice to the idealistic founders of the Progressive Miners as well as to deny us an understanding of Lewis’ actions. While I’m sure this isn’t true in Biggers’ case, such a characterization can leave one believing that the Illinois Mine War was simply a factional dispute within the UMWA, ignoring the role of the government and most importantly, the role of the coal operators.

Satellite photo depicts the scars of strip mining in Southern Illinois

During that period in Illinois, the UMWA functioned essentially as a company union for Peabody Coal. Lewis led his loyalists to cross picket lines and break lawful strikes. Strikebreakers and thugs were recruited under auspices of the UMWA during that time to protect heavily fortified Peabody mines in Harrisburg and the Midland Tract in Christian County. Far from a simple factional dispute, Peabody Coal worked with Lewis to protect its dominance in the Illinois coal industry. FBI records show that when a picket line couldn’t be broken, Lewis funneled UMWA funds to a mine operator in order to withstand a PMA strike. And when it was eventually broken, the remaining workers fell under the control of the United Mine Workers.

That being said, one needs to remember that most of the discussion of the Illinois Mine War is accurate and part of a much broader historical mosaic. Biggers’ ties to the Mine War run deep too. Joe Colbert, a distant family relative, was the first casualty of the conflict. Further the profile of Agnes Burns Wieck and subsequent discussion of the inspiring role of women in the PMA organizing and activism is a great read.

For me Reckoning At Eagle Creek helps redress “historicide, a problem discussed in the book. The term, “historicide”, was coined by anthropologist Jonathan Hill and refers to the process of separating people from their histories. Jeff Biggers capably restores much of that history. Bravo.

Who Sees Dead People?

Earlier I wrote about Blair Mountain, West Virginia, its historical importance, and the effort to preserve it. (here & here.)

Recently Jeff Biggers offered an update on the bizarre actions of the West Virginia Historic Preservation Office.

Biggers reports: "On December 30, 2009, the historic Blair Mountain Battlefield was removed from the National Register by the Interim Keeper of the National Register, Carol Shull despite the fact that the WV State Historic Preservation Officer list of land-owning objectors admittedly included TWO DEAD PEOPLE and two life estate holders--all of whom should be disqualified.

Not quite admittedly: In an email inquiry on January 6th, WV SHPO Susan Pierce wrote: 'We cannot confirm or deny that there are no deceased on the SHPO list dated May 21, 2009.'...If the SHPO, whose state mandate is to 'identify, recognize, preserve and protect West Virginia's prehistoric and historic structures and sites,' openly doesn't even know who is an objector on the Blair Mountain list, outside of what she has been told by the coal companies."

From the Mt. Olive Public Library

Here's an image from the collection of the Mt. Olive, IL Public Library.

Charter of PMA Local 35 in Mt. Olive, IL

Mt. Olive is also the home of the Union Miners Cemetery, the final resting place of Mother Jones. PMA Local 35, led by Joe Ozanic spearheaded the effort to erect the Mother Jones Monument which was dedicated October 11, 1936.

Thanks to the library and its director, Janice Thimsen for providing access to the collection.