To Commemorate the Battle at Virden, Illinois
This is the centennial of the battle waged by Illinois coal miners to halt a trainload of strikebreakers being imported from Alabama to the mine at Virden, a town about 25 miles south of Springfield on Illinois Route 4. The event, in which 12 mine guards and miners died by gunfire, took place on October 12, 1898. Ever since, October 12 has been Miners' Day in this part of the state.
The centennial anniversary will be marked on Sunday, October 11, 1998 with a 5-block walking tour of Virden, beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the Town Square. As the walk proceeds, visitors will hear from historical characters played by actors. A booklet of documents and photos from the 1898 events will be available.
President Cecil Roberts of the United Mine Workers will be the Master of Ceremonies. Bucky Halker will perform old songs of the coal miners. The event is sponsored by the Illinois Labor History Society, under the leadership of Prof. Rosemary Feurer, Northern Illinois University.
The event is free and open to the public.
Co-sponsors are the Mother Jones Foundation; United Mine Workers District 12; Operating Engineers Local 148; Service Employees Local 73; Laborers Union-Southwestern District Council; Springfield Trades and Labor Assembly; Madison County Federation of Labor.
Union Hall of Honor Awards Dinner
Attend the 1998 Union Hall of Honor Awards Dinner of the Illinois Labor History Society. Last year's theme was Friends of Labor. That first great friend of labor in Illinois politics, Governor John Peter Altgeld, was the honoree.
This year the theme will remain the same, but the focus turns from political
figures who do the right thing, to our friends from the arts: theatre, music,
painting. They can speak to us of our identity as working people with
a shared culture. It is the arts that give us inspiration when we are
low. They touch us at our deeper spiritual and emotional levels.
The event dedicated to Labor and the Arts will be held Saturday, November
14, 1998 at the Midland Hotel, 172 W Adams, Chicago, IL.
For more information call ILHS (312)663-4107
