Illinois House of Representatives Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre transcript of hearings, April 11-May 17, 1923 on Microfilm, 1923
Collection Number: 5180 mf

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Illinois House of Representatives Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre transcript of hearings, April 11-May 17, 1923 on Microfilm, 1923
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5180 mf
Abstract:
Transcript of testimony heard in April and May of 1923 before an Illinois House of Representatives Committee consisting of the following members: Frank A. McCarthy (chairman), Thomas Curran, Norman G. Flagg, M.L. Igoe, W.B. Phillips, William L. Pierce, and M.P. Rice; also abstract of testimony and exhibits.
Creator:
Illinois House of Representatives
Quanitities:
0.22 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

A violent incident, known as the Herrin Massacre, resulted from an attempt to run a strip mine in Williamson County, Illinois during the coal strike of 1922.
Involved was a conflict between members of the Steam Shovel Men's Union (SSMU), an independent union, and members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW). The SSMU men were employed by William J. Lester to break the UMW strike at the strip mines in Herrin and Marion, Ill., owned by the Southern Illinois Coal Company, of which he was the president.
On June 22nd, 1922, forty-seven men working at the strip mine surrendered, under a promise of safe conduct, to an armed force of several hundred striking miners. Twenty-one SSMU men were subsequently killed. In the ensuing trial, public opinion made it impossible to convict any of those individuals indicted for murder or related crimes.

Transcript of testimony heard in April and May of 1923 before an Illinois House of Representatives Committee consisting of the following members: Frank A. McCarthy (chairman), Thomas Curran, Norman G. Flagg, M.L. Igoe, W.B. Phillips, William L. Pierce, and M.P. Rice; also abstract of testimony and exhibits.
Includes the testimony of key individuals involved in the incident along with that of the following major local and poitical figures: Carlo Black (adjutant general of the State of Illinois), Charles R. Edrington (commercial secretary for the Marion Association), Charles F. Hamilton (operator of the Enterprise Mine near Moke Station, and business partner of Lester), DeWitt T. Hartwell (county judge), Robert Herrin (chief of police in Herrin), Fox Hughes (sub-district vice-president and United Mine Workers of America official), A.B. McLaren (coal operator), Ralph B. Mitchell (general manager of Cosgrove Interests), Len Small (governor), William J. Sneed (state senator and president of sub-district, Illinois Miners Organization), S.D. Storme (county clerk and deputy under Thaxton), and Robert Tracy (locomotive engineer). The transcript also contains testimony of other figures involved in the incident, such as miners, hardware store clerks and newspaper reporters.
A violent incident, known as the Herrin Massacre, resulted from an attempt to run a strip mine in Williamson County, Illinois during the coal strike of 1922.
Involved was a conflict between members of the Steam Shovel Men's Union (SSMU), an independent union, and members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW). The SSMU men were employed by William J. Lester to break the UMW strike at the strip mines in Herrin and Marion, Ill., owned by the Southern Illinois Coal Company, of which he was the president.
On June 22nd, 1922, forty-seven men working at the strip mine surrendered, under a promise of safe conduct, to an armed force of several hundred striking miners. Twenty-one SSMU men were subsequently killed. In the ensuing trial, public opinion made it impossible to convict any of those individuals indicted for murder or related crimes.
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INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

Illinois House of Representatives Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre transcript of hearings, April 11-May 17, 1923 on Microfilm #5180 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5180 (d): Illinois House of Representatives Committee on the Investigation of the Herrin Massacre, Transcript of Testimony (digital)

SUBJECTS

Names:
Illinois. General Assembly. House of Representatives. Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre.
Illinois. General Assembly. House of Representatives.
Illinois Miner's Organization
Southern Illinois Coal Company
Steam Shovel Men's Union
United Mine Workers of America.
Black, Carlo
Edrington, Charles R.
Hamilton, Charles F.
Hartwell, DeWitt T.
Herrin, Robert
Hughes, Fox
Lester, William J.
McLaren, A. B.
Sneed, William J.
Storme, S. D.
Tracy, Robert
Subjects:
Herrin Massacre, 1922.
Southern Illinois Coal Company Strike, 1922.
Strikebreakers--Illinois.
Coal miners.
Labor violence. United States.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Reel 1
Illinois Legislature House Committee on the Investigation of the Herrin Massacre Transcripts of Testimony (1923)
1923
Scope and Contents
Positive
Reel 2
Illinois Legislature House Committee on the Investigation of the Herrin Massacre Transcripts of Testimony (1923)
1923
Scope and Contents
Service copy