Illinois. General Assembly. House of Representatives. Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre.

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.

From the description of Illinois. General Assembly. House of Representatives. Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre transcript of hearings, 1923, April 11-May 17. [microform] (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63891036

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.

From the guide to the Illinois. General Assembly. House of Representatives. Committee on Investigation of the Herrin Massacre transcript of hearings, April 11-May 17, 1923, (Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library)