This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Black miners shaping Southern Illinois coal towns
Southern Illinois coal towns grew around mines and rail, with large scale use of Black strikebreakers from Tennessee and Kentucky starting 1898. Dewmaine and Colp centers housed Black communities. Zeigler became a major producer after 1905, despite violent crackdowns and deadly explosions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
South
Little Egypt
Illinois
Southern
Williamson County
United Mine Workers of America
St. Louis and Big Muddy
Joe Angleton
UMW District 12
Dewmaine
Brush
Madison Coal Co
Union
Colp
Number 9
Coal Company
Madison 8
Madison 12
Blairsville
Madison
Zeigler
Chicago
Joe Leiter
Leiter
Franklin County
UMW
Kentucky
Allen Patton
Patton
Southern Illinois