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Massacre of strikebreakers in Herrin, Illinois...
Massacre of strikebreakers in Herrin, Illinois...
Item # 580113
June 25, 1922
THE WORLD, New York City, June 25, 1922
* Herrin massacre Illinois IL
* Strikebreakers murdered
This 50+ page newspaper has one column headlines on the front page that include: "MINE WAR OVER, ILLINOIS TROOPS ARE DEMORALIZED", "Governor Is Told That Order Has Been Restored in Herrin by the Authorities" and more (see images).
Other news and advertisements of the day. Light browning with minor margin wear, otherwise good.
wikipedia notes: A half mile past Crenshaw Crossing at Moake Crossing, McDowell was bloodied and limping, unable to go any further. The man who'd spoken earlier said "I'm going to kill you and use you for bait to catch the other scabs." He and another man grabbed McDowell and walked off down a side road. Shots rang out, and everyone else continued towards Herrin. A farmer later found McDowell's body. He'd been shot four times: twice in the stomach, and once each in the chest and head.
A car pulled up to the procession, and a man came out whom some of the strikebreakers overheard being called "Hugh Willis" and "the president." According to the accounts of surviving captives, he said, "Listen, don't you go killing these fellows on a public highway. There are too many women and children around to do that. Take them over in the woods and give it to them. Kill all you can."
The prisoners were taken off the road into the woods, where they reached a barbed wire fence. The strikebreakers were told to run for their lives. One man shouted, "Let's see how fast you can run between here and Chicago, you damned gutter-bums!" The mob opened fire behind the strikebreakers as they ran. Many of the captives were caught up in the fence and shot to death. Others, making it over the fence but not knowing where they were, ran through Harrison's Woods toward Herrin, still a mile north. One strikebreaker caught inside the woods was hanged and three others were shot to death at his feet. The assistant superintendent of the mine, was alive but unconscious. One of the union men noticed that he was still alive and shot him in the head. The chase continued on into the morning of the 22nd.
Six men were recaptured and ordered to remove their shirts and shoes. They were then told to crawl to Herrin Cemetery. By noon a crowd of about 1,000 spectators had gathered at the cemetery. They watched as the strikebreakers were roped together and men took turns beating and shooting them. The scabs that where tied up where also urinated upon.Those who were still alive at the end had their throats cut by a man wielding a pocketknife. Other townspeople came out to look at and taunt the dead and dying along the route to the cemetery. One reporter tried to give one of the dying men some water and was told that if he gave the man water, "he wouldn't live to see the next day".
Category: The 20th Century
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