On November 13, 1909 a horrific underground fire broke out in the Cherry Mine, resulting in 259 deaths. Cherry remains the worst mining tragedy in Illinois. To say that this disaster traumatized the town of Cherry is a gross understatement. The impact of the tragedy lives on.
For the second anniversary of the disaster the United Mine Workers of America commissioned and inaugurated a magnificent memorial in the town’s cemetery. The cemetery is actually two adjacent cemeteries: the Holy Trinity Miners’ Memorial Cemetery (Catholic) and the Protestant Miners’ Memorial Cemetery. The UMWA’s Cherry Mine memorial sits between the two sectarian spaces and was erected south of the mine’s two slag piles (which are still visible on the landscape).
The cost of the memorial ($2,500) was paid for by popular subscription into a UMWA fund for that purpose. Contributions came from more than sixty thousand miners around the country. The memorial was crafted in Chicago. It was described in the newspapers at the time as a parian marble shaft, thirteen feet tall, depicting a woman “in the attitude of sorrow and dejection”. The inscription on the memorial says: TO THE MEMORY OF THE MINERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE CHERRY MINE DISASTER NOVEMBER 13, 1909 ERECTED BY THE U.M.W. OF A. DISTRICT NO. 12, ILLINOIS NOV. 13, 1911.
The tragic figure of a mourning woman defines the memorial. Note the funerary wreath at the top of the shaft, symbolizing victory over death and remembrance. It is inscribed on its perimeter: United Mine Workers of America Established Jan. 25, 1890. Inside the wreath it says: District 12 State of ILL. Note the original 1911 paver that says No. 2 ILL Local Union. That is the Spring Valley area to which Cherry belonged.
An official historical marker was erected in Cherry in 1971. It was the result of the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Historical Society. The marker was emplaced on North Main Street, in Village Park. It was a large wood panel on which the story of the Cherry Mine Disaster was told.
In 1986 the IDOT and ISHS replaced the wood-panel historic marker with the fine aluminum one visible today (below).
The 100th anniversary of the disaster in 2009 saw a dramatic increase of attention to the Cherry disaster. The town of Cherry commemorated the Centennial with the dedication of a new memorial. It was the product of the community writ large. It was installed immediately south of the Cherry Museum and Library. The new memorial consists of multiple components.
Look at the black granite rectangular slab above the red steps.
The front of the black granite slab shows of a loaded coal car. The inscription reads: DEDICATED TO THE 259 COAL MINERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE NOVEMBER 13, 1909 MINE DISASTER AT CHERRY, ILLINOIS
The back of the black granite slab is inscribed with an anonymous poem called “Afterward-at-Cherry”. It was written five weeks after the tragedy and published in the Bureau County Record on December 22, 1909.
Behind the black granite slab is the principal component of the memorial. The front iterates the two slag heaps of the Cherry Mine. Inserted into the notch between them is a laser-engraved image of the mine inserted into the notch. The names are all victims are inscribed on the red granite slabs.
The back of the two pyramidal red granite slabs bears the acknowledgment of twenty “in kind contributors” on the left and of the Cherry Booster Club on the right. The laser engraving the Cherry Mine extends from the front of the component around to this back side.
READ PROFESSOR HELAINE SILVERMAN’S FULL ARTICLE ABOUT THE CHERRY MEMORIALS HERE.