Mother Jones Foundation and the Union Miners Cemetery Walk

MT. OLIVE - Two programs that celebrate Miners’ Day, Mother Jones and her boys will be presented at Union Miners’ Cemetery located in Mt. Olive Illinois on Sunday, October 15 at 12 and 1PM.

At noon, the Springfield based Mother Jones Foundation will present their annual tribute to the Battle of Virden and its part in our local labor history with labor songs and speakers to recognize the struggles of miners to form unions. Foundation President, Jack Dyer, will speak along with United Mine Workers of America officials; Secretary Treasurer Levi Allen and District 12 President Steve Earl. Traditional labor songs will be part of the program as will personal stories from anyone who wishes to speak.

The first annual Union Miners’ Cemetery Walk will immediately follow the Foundation program. John Alexander, labor historian and expert on the Battle of Virden, will explain how Miners’ Day originated. Mother Jones and “General” Alexander Bradley will return from the past to speak along with members of local families who will tell the stories of an Italian immigrant coal mining family, a contemporary labor organizer, and a Mt. Olive WWI soldier who died in that war. Labor songs will accompany the program.

The public is invited to this free event. See the Mother Jones Foundation and the Union Miners Cemetery Walk 2017 Facebook pages for more information.

For further information about the Foundation event contact Terry Reed at 1 217 491-1298.

For information about the Cemetery Walk and general inquiries about the Foundation event, contact Joann Condellone at 1 618 659-8759.

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