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by John F. Foster (Author)
On June 22, 1922, one of the deadliest days in the history of labor in the U.S. occurred near and in the town of Herrin, Williamson County, Illinois. On that day, men who had been imported into the county to work at a strip mine during a nationwide coal strike by members of the United Mine Workers of America, were taken prisoner and unarmed, marched for several miles on a warm June morning under the belief that they would be sent out of the area by train. Along the way it became clear to most of them that a different fate awaited them after a more radical faction of striking miners and their supporters took command of the prisoners. Men, who were normally hard working family men, became cold blooded, heartless and relentless killers. Before that Thursday was over, eighteen men would be dead and lying in a makeshift morgue in Herrin. Numerous wounded would find themselves in the Herrin Hospital or making their way back to Chicago. One of those in the hospital would die within days and another two within a few months. The incident would be dubbed "The Herrin Massacre" and be remembered as such for all time. On Sunday, June 25th, 1922, sixteen of the dead were buried in an out of the way spot at the Herrin City Cemetery referred to as the potter's field. Time, as it is wont to do, eventually erased all evidence of the graves as life returned to normal in Herrin and Williamson County. Recent events in the Herrin City Cemetery have resulted in the discovery of the location of these long lost and forgotten graves. For the first time in more than 90 years, the men who came to Herrin in June of 1922 will be revealed. Includes fourteen pages of photos, some seen for the first time, and also for the first time, an accurate, to scale map of the death march and massacre areas, produced by Professor Steven Di Naso of Eastern Illinois University.
Author Biography
John F. Foster is a retired county sheriff with 25 years in law enforcement. He is also a United Mine Workers of America pensioner, having worked 11 years as an underground coal miner and a U.S. Army Airborne veteran of the Vietnam War. He lives in Southern Illinois with his wife, two dogs, and an old Siamese cat.
