Sigler To Be Honored In Washington, D.C.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial will add the name of mine war martyr, Joseph Sigler on May 13. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund commemorates the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers.

Sigler served a unique role within the tiny community of Bulpitt, IL. While he was a miner and member of the Progressive Miners of America, he also worked for the village as a special police officer. I'll write more on this later, but suffice to say that it wasn't unusual for miners to be enlisted as law enforcement officers in these small communities. And at times, the law enforcement officers of a village could be at odds with the county sheriff or even the state militia.

Harry Jones and Joe Sigler are among those memorialized on the Mother Jones Monument in Mt. Olive, IL

On September 15, 1934, the Taylorville Breeze Courier editorialized, "The death of Joe Sigler, Bulpitt Special Policeman, yesterday adds another death to the uncalled for shooting out there early Monday morning and removes from that community another of its splendid citizens.

Harry Jones and Joe Sigler paid the price of their lives while trying to insure the safety of one of their local citizens...Sigler was a Progressive but he respected the rights of others who might differ in opinion with him."

Of course the conflict was rooted in far more than a difference of opinion, but Sigler's actions demonstrated that he valued life above all. And for me at least, his actions demonstrated that he adhered to the PMA's initial code of non-violence.

However, it's not clear that Sigler's sacrifice will be acknowledged by the Illinois Law Enforcement Memorial. While an event is scheduled for May 7 in Springfield, IL, Sigler's name has as yet to be added. Hopefully Illinois will accord the same honor to Sigler that the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial saw fit to bestow.

Who Killed Joe Sigler?

"Who shot Sigler and Jones? Whoever may know is not telling. The 'mine war' takes care of its own; and it makes good business for the undertakers."

Murder Stalks The Coal Field
Decatur Herald & Review
Februrary 10, 1935

Joe Sigler and Harry Jones were shot and killed on September 10, 1934 in a small coal mining town in downstate Illinois. The incident occurred in Bulpitt, a tiny village which barely covers four square blocks. But in 1934, this remote immigrant community found itself in the heart of a violent mine war.

Joe Sigler
(courtesy of Sigler family)

Although the loyalty of Taylorville miners was divided, nearby Bulpitt was firmly in the camp of the Progressive Miners. Hugh “Happy” Donnelly was among those strikers who initially defied Peabody Coal Company and the UMWA. However, a miner’s income was always precarious and the financial stress brought on by months of striking compelled Donnelly to cross the picket line and return to work.

Donnelly’s decision was not well-received in this close-knit community. According to press reports, in the early morning hours of September 10, 1934, tempers flared at the Hyde Park Beer Parlor, a neighborhood saloon. Bulpitt Special Police Officer, Joe Sigler was also present and witnessed the escalating tension. To avoid physical harm, Donnelly requested Sigler escort him to his home. Sigler agreed and he and his brother Frank walked Donnelly the few blocks to his house.

Reaching their destination minutes later, Donnelly pointed to bullet holes made that night on the front of his house. Neighbor Harry Jones joined them as Frank Sigler departed. Shortly after, shots were fired, hitting Jones and Joe Sigler. Jones died the next evening while Sigler succumbed to his wounds four days later.

The shootings were reported to the local sheriff and Donnelly was taken into custody although released a few hours later. While a coroner’s inquest was held on Sigler’s murder no one was ever indicted for the crime.

Resisting Occupation

Taylorville, IL was occupied by the state militia under martial law from September, 1932 through March, 1933. While the stated purposed was to quell violence, repeated bombings and murders occurred during that occupation.

To the PMA and its supporters, the role of the state militia was quite clear; support Peabody Coal and the United Mine Workers and break the strike. Although state government claimed to be non-partisan in the dispute between the unions, its disruption of PMA picket lines and protection of imported strike breakers clearly demonstrated which side state government supported.

While the bloody intervention of state or federal troops on behalf of business interests is an all-too-common story in U.S. labor history, formal opposition to such action by local government is far from ordinary.

After more than a month of oppressive occupation, the Illinois State Journal noted:

"October 17, 1932 - The local city council, at a special meeting tonight, took action to curb through legal channels activities of Illinois National Guard units stationed in the Christian county mining area.

The resolution was presented following the reading of a 4,000-word opinion written by City Attorney Leal W. Reese which cited legal restrictions placed upon the soldiers and declared that men have a right to resist to the extreme attempts made to arrest them illegally.

The opinion declared that military men on duty to quell civil disturbances 'cannot do anything which other peace officers cannot do that they cannot arrest without warrants nor hold prisoners without preferring immediate charges.' The opinion further declared the military authorities have no right to molest peaceable persons on the street nor in public places. It held also that any person thus 'illegally arrested, abused, or assaulted has the right to resist the arrest with force." (emphasis added)

You may recall an earlier entry on the bombing of Mr. Reese's home. His actions to restore civil liberties in Taylorville help explain why he became a target in the mine war.

What Is Community-Based Unionism?

Studying the mine war, it can be easy to focus on the the sensational violence and yet overlook the important principles which were contested. Certainly with the theft of the wage referendum ballots, the democratic rights of the rank-and-file had been usurped. But the formation of the Progressive Miners of America also heralded a model of unionism that was structurally different than its predecessor.

This alternative unionism or community-based unionism is discussed in Staughton Lynd's book, "We Are All Leaders", The Alternative Unionsim of the Early 1930's. In the introduction, Lynd writes, "By whatever name, this alternative unionism was democratic, deeply rooted in mutual aid among workers in different crafts and work sites, and politically independent. The key to the value system of alternative unionism was its egalitarianism." (p. 3) Contrasted to bureaucratic unionism in which power is wielded from the top and tactics and decision-making are handled by national leaders, alternative unionism is characterized by a horizontal formation of rank-and-file workers who actively participate in most aspects of the union. Further, adherents to alternative unionism tend to view their constituency across a broad class spectrum while bureaucratic unionism tends to function more narrowly within the immediate concerns of its membership and contracts.

In the 1930's, this division was heightened considerably due to John L. Lewis' paternalistic leadership of the UMWA. Arguably, the PMA was attempting to uphold and formalize a nascent form of community unionism which grew within the Illinois coal fields for decades. With Lewis' ascendancy to the UMWA presidency in 1920 came a relentless push to centralize union authority under his auspices.

Telegram To Governor Horner

Here's a 1934 telegram from the Taylorville Women's Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners of America to Illinois Governor Horner. They were protesting the ceaseless violence in their community.


The Progressives frequently implored state, local and federal government to protect their right to assemble, speak and organize. Typically these pleas were ignored or resulted in government intervention on behalf of the United Mine Workers and the coal companies. And when the federal government chose to act, it indicted 41 members of the Progressive Miners in 1936. Subsequently 34 were sent to federal prison.

The source of this image is the State's Hard Times in Illinois. It's an interesting site, but the claim that "as time passed the Progressive Miners increasingly became influenced by communist interests" is unsubstantiated. In fact, both the Progressives and the United Mine Workers often engaged in paranoid red-baiting.