Few Seats Left for Saturday's Herrin Massacre Tour

If you ever wanted to learn more about the Herrin Massacre now is the time. Our last tour of the summer will be Saturday starting at 9 a.m. with the bus leaving from the Williamson County Jail Museum at 105 S. Van Buren St. in Marion.

S.I. Treasure Tours conducts the tours and yours truly, Jon Musgrave of IllinoisHistory.com, serves as the guide. The tour includes visits to the jail museum, Station Carbondale railroad museum and the Herrin City Cemetery, as well as lunch at an area historic site.

Go to www.TreasureToursSI.com to reserve your seats now.

Herrin Massacre still stands out 90 years later

Today's the 90th anniversary of the Herrin Massacre on June 22, 1922.

HERRIN — It's been 90 years today since 20 replacement workers and guards died at the hands of a mob organized by the United Mine Workers of America in what's still the largest massacre of workers initiated by a union in America's history. A driver for the mine, later died from a separate ambush the day before, bringing the count to 21.

Three U.M.W.A. miners are also counted among the victims bringing the total to 24. They died following an attack on the Lester strip mine the previous day as well. The mine stood about a half mile north of the present-day Williamson County Pavilion and then halfway between the county's largest community of Herrin and the county seat of Marion.

The attack of June 22, 1922, quickly became known as the Herrin Massacre and helped blacklist nationwide the county as Bloody Williamson where more than 70 men, women and children were killed during a five-year period as Klan violence and a gang war followed in its aftermath.

For the rest of the story check out Part 1 of my five-part series can be found at the DailyRegister.com. 

Herrin Massacre Song Recalls Era

I just found a neat video on YouTube about the Herrin Massacre. It was just posted this summer by a folk singer from Southeast Missouri. Here it is.

Herrin Massacre Novelist to Discuss Story Saturday

The Roaring 20s remains a popular subject for both historians and writers. There are a number of projects in the works, some announced, others not. I'm working on some of them, but there are others as well.

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 25, University of Illinois instructor John Griswold will be signing copies of his new novel, "A Democracy of Ghosts", which is based on the 1922 Herrin Massacre. The main character Bill Sneed, is based on his real-life grandfather William J. Sneed, who was Williamson County's state senator at the time and as well as the District 12 president of the United Mine Workers of America.

The historic Sneed was out of town on the day of the massacre, which I'm sure was a calculated decision. According to testimony in the subsequent murder trials, District Vice President Hugh Willis was the instigator of the riot at the power house as he rallied the miners to shoot their replacements. However, Griswold tweaks the history to put the fictional Sneed in the middle of the action.

Griswold will speak about his book at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Bookworm bookstore in Carbondale's Eastgate Shopping Center at 618 E. Walnut.

Scott Doody of Anna, formerly of "The Working Man" show on WXAN-AM is also working on a documentary about the Herrin Massacre. I haven't talked to him for a few months when he came into the Williamson County Historical Museum while I was there doing some research. It's supposed to be ready sometime this summer or early fall.