The Coalfields of Illinois (Mother Jones)

Beneath us lies one of the nation’s richest coal seams, formed 300 million years ago and covering two-thirds of Illinois. Coal made this state an industrial and economic powerhouse by the 1880’s – it drove the machines, heated the homes, smelted the steel, powered the railroads.

Coal companies recruited workers from many countries, placing them in dangerous jobs with low pay. These miners and their families forged a union movement to demand their rights and reclaim their dignity.

In 1897, miners launched a march for a living wage from Mt. Olive, Illinois, a small immigrant town 20 miles south of here. The uprising spread through the mining areas of the country, resulting in a major union mining contract. Illinois miners became a leading force in the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), which grew into the largest and most influential union in the nation. Miners’ efforts to bring democracy to the coalfields led to bloody battles with coal companies and their armed guards, costing hundreds of lives. Through these struggles, miners won safer working conditions, the eight-hour day and abolished child labor in the mines.

Mary Harris ‘Mother’ Jones (1837-1930), Irish immigrant and socialist, emerged as the UMWA’s most successful organizer. Beloved and legendary among workers throughout the United States, she organized not only miners but women and children in the coalfields. She chose to be buried in Mt. Olive in memory of the ordinary people who built the labor movement.