Mt. Olive in Macoupin County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Union Miners Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois
Photographed By James Hulse, October 27, 2021
1. Union Miners Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois Marker
Inscription.
Union Miners Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois. . The Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois, is the only labor union-established and union-owned cemetery in the United States. It is the result of the Battle of Virden fought in Virden on October 12, 1898, when the Chicago-Virden Coal Company refused to honor the national wage negotiated by the United Mine Workers Union. An armed struggle broke out that day between miners and company forces attempting to use Scabs (non-union strike-breakers). Eight miners, four mine guards, and one company employee were killed. The bosses capitulated and agreed to the legal wage. Four of the dead miners were from Mt. Olive, but the owner of the privately owned town cemetery did not want dead miners buried there to prevent the cemetery from becoming a miners shrine. Therefore, the UMW purchased land in Mt Olive in order to create a dedicated union cemetery for the dead miners and all miners in the future. In 1932 the cemetery was deeded to the Progressive Miners of America Union. Today a perpetual care committee tends the cemetery with the help of labor unions from around the country. The cemetery's labor history significance is recognized by inscription on the National Register of Historic Places (1972).
The Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois, is the only labor union-established and union-owned cemetery in the United States. It is the result of the Battle of Virden fought in Virden on October 12, 1898, when the Chicago-Virden Coal Company refused to honor the national wage negotiated by the United Mine Workers Union. An armed struggle broke out that day between miners and company forces attempting to use Scabs (non-union strike-breakers). Eight miners, four mine guards, and one company employee were killed. The bosses capitulated and agreed to the legal wage. Four of the dead miners were from Mt. Olive, but the owner of the privately owned town cemetery did not want dead miners buried there to prevent the cemetery from becoming a miners shrine. Therefore, the UMW purchased land in Mt Olive in order to create a dedicated union cemetery for the dead miners and all miners in the future. In 1932 the cemetery was deeded to the Progressive Miners of America Union. Today a perpetual care committee tends the cemetery with the help of labor unions from around the country. The cemetery's labor history significance is recognized by inscription on the National Register of Historic Places (1972).
Erected 2021 by The University of Illinois Mythic Mississippi Project, the City of Mt. Olive, the Mother
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Jones Museum at Mt. Olive, the Union Miners Cemetery Board, and the Illinois State Historical Society.
Location. 39° 4.849′ N, 89° 43.918′ W. Marker is in Mt. Olive, Illinois, in Macoupin County. Marker is at the intersection of Mt. Olive Road and Old Reservoir Road, on the right when traveling south on Mt. Olive Road. The marker is located at the frontgate in the northern section of the Union Miners Cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mount Olive IL 62069, United States of America. Touch for directions.
The Battle of Virden, also known as the Virden Mine Riot and Virden Massacre, was a labor union conflict and a racial conflict in central Illinois that occurred on October 12, 1898. After a United Mine Workers of America local struck a mine in Virden, Illinois, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company hired armed detectives or security guards to accompany African-American strikebreakers to start production again. Source: Wikipedia
(Submitted on October 28, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)
Photographed By James Hulse, October 27, 2021
3. The view of the Union Miners Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois Marker from the road
Photographed By James Hulse, October 27, 2021
4. The Mother Jones monument
Public Domain - Wikipedia, October 12, 1898
5. Battle of Virden
Miners gathering at the railroad tracks in Virden, Illinois on October 12, 1898, to meet the trainload of strikebreakers scheduled to arrive by rail.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 28, 2021. It was originally submitted on October 28, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 261 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on October 28, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.