Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum News


	For Immediate Release: October 15, 2009	Contact: David Blanchette (217) 558-8970
	"The Flames Caught Us" 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster 100th anniversary exhibit opens November 1 at Presidential Library SPRINGFIELD - It's a story of tragedy, heroism and survival, an event that occurred one hundred years ago in a small Illinois community, grabbed the world's attention, and forever changed the face of a major industry. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library will open a major exhibit November 1 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Mine Disaster, "The Flames Caught Us": Cherry Mine 1909, which will run through March 31, 2010. The exhibit commemorates a tragedy that killed 259 people and inspired the passage of coal mine safety legislation to the same degree that the sinking of the Titanic would affect maritime safety laws three years later. The exhibit may be viewed free of charge Sunday, November 1 and then Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Presidential Library Atrium. Viewing will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, but the exhibit will also be open that weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 27, 28 and 29, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. "While informing the public about the coal mining industry, immigrant labor, and mine safety at the turn of the 20th century, the exhibit will take them beyond the tragedy to understand the changes the Cherry Mine Disaster made in the advancement of labor welfare and mine safety enjoyed by miners in the 21st century," said Illinois State Historian Dr. Thomas Schwartz. A round table discussion and book signing with authors who have written about the disaster will be held Saturday, November 7 at 6 p.m. at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library to coincide with the exhibit opening. Authors participating include: Karen Tintori, Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster; Dean and Lorena (Galletti) Cotton, Oneness: Angiolina, The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster; Steve Stout, Black Damp: The Story of the Cherry Mining Disaster; and Ronald Bluemer, Fire Below! Musician Ray Tutaj Jr. will offer a musical performance dedicated to the Cherry Mine Disaster. Books may be purchased during the November 7 event, or those attending may bring their own copies for the authors to sign. The exhibit will be open for viewing following the program. Artifacts featured in "The Flames Caught Us" exhibit include: Typical 1909 mining equipment such as a miner's pick, fuel canteen, coal shovel, coal fork, lamps, dynamite case, miners' caps, hammers, tin flasks, and a lunch pail; a mule collar and chain, used on the animals that moved coal from one area of a mine to another; a canary cage to hold the birds that were used to measure air quality in many Illinois mines; mine rescue equipment; a funeral ribbon for victims of the Cherry Mine Disaster issued to United Mine Workers of America members; check tags used to record which miners were in the mines; numerous government reports on the disaster; and several personal narratives including one printed in Italian, the language of many Illinois coal miners of the era. Many of these artifacts have been loaned by private individuals specifically for this exhibit. The exhibit will also feature materials from the collections of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, including photographs, coroner's reports, oral histories, published books, newspaper articles, government reports, music, and manuscripts. The St. Paul Coal Company Mine in Cherry, a mining town in Bureau County, began operation in 1905 and supplied the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad with 300,000 tons of coal annually for its locomotives. The mine featured the latest equipment and operated smoothly until November 13, 1909, when a torch caught a load of hay on fire about 300 feet below the surface. Of the 490 men and boys in the mine at the time, a total of 259 died from the fire or the poisonous gases it produced. Heroic rescue efforts, including one in which 12 rescuers died, filled newspaper accounts of the disaster. The one incredible survival story involved the "eight-day" men, a group of 21 trapped miners who sealed themselves off from the fire and were rescued eight days later by a team that had been sent below to retrieve bodies. As a result of the Cherry Mine Disaster, safety regulations were implemented throughout the mining industry, and a liability act, which became the basis of the Illinois Workmen's Compensation Act, was enacted. For more information about the programs and collections of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.presidentlincoln.org. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is the state's chief historical and genealogical research facility and is open free of charge weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The adjacent Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is an immersive, state-of-the-art experience that gives visitors an emotional attachment to the Abraham Lincoln story. Paid admission is required to tour the Museum, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ###