Coal Miners Memorial

A project that is rapidly taking place and that is not known to the general public is a proposed memorial to coal miners of this area. A committee of a few retired miners and union officials have been meeting on a weekly basis to plan for this memorial that will be located in our city park.

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The memorial is made of black granite and features six sides on the base to pay respect to Freeman #3 and 6, Inland Steel/Consolidation, and Old Ben #21, 24, & 26.At the base of this memorial and forming the walkway is a place for miners and their families to purchase a brick that have the name of a miner inscribed in it. More importantly, space is provided at each individual mine site that will feature the engraved names of miners who were killed on the job at that particular mine. This is a moving tribute with landscaped grounds complete with benches so that families and miners alike can come and reflect on their years of hard labor.

There is no doubt in my mind that the coal industry played a huge role in the founding and development of Sesser. Many of our parents and grandparents earned a living and supported their families through wages earned at the coal mines. Without the battles they fought none of them or their widows would have a pension, medical benefits, or black lung benefits today. Coal mining was a huge part of the labor movement in this country and this is a lesson and a history that we do not ever need to forget.

This memorial will cost about $85,000.00 to build and it will be built entirely on donations. It will be a focal centerpiece not only to our park but also to the entire town. It will be something that we will all be proud of and something that will bring a lot of visitors to Sesser. It is hoped that in the future we will be able to set aside a day for a picnic and tribute to these brave men and women who have helped make Sesser what it is today. We owe a debt of gratitude and this will be a way that we can all join together and honor these folks. We will be making an official announcement within the next two weeks complete with an artist’s rendering of the memorial. We will dedicate the completed memorial at this year’s Sesser Homecoming so we have a lot of work to do in a short period of time. We need your help!


Ground turned on miner's memorial in Sesser
BY BECKY MALKOVICH, The Southern
Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:09 PM CDT
SESSER -- Ground was ceremoniously turned Thursday at the site of a planned memorial to those who spent much of their lives working under the ground.

The Coal Miner’s Memorial, which will honor those who worked in coal mines, as well as those miners who lost their lives underground, is on target for a June 20th dedication during Sesser’s annual Homecoming celebration, Sesser Mayor Ned Mitchell said.

The memorial will recognize the contributions of coal miners and will serve as a reminder of the value of coal to the region’s past and what it could mean to the future, Mitchell said.

Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard also cited the future of coal mining during the ceremony.

“In the Illinois Basin, there is enough coal to run the entire energy needs in America for 300 years but we can’t mine it because it doesn’t meet the (standards of the) Clean Air Act,” Poshard said. “To really honor the coal miners who went down into the belly of the earth, we need to find a way to clean that coal.”

He cited research being done by the university as well as a renewed attempt to land Future Gen, what was to be a first-of-its-kind coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plant in Mattoon, as steps toward a brighter future for the Illinois coal industry.

Plans call for the hexagon memorial to recognize six mines near Sesser including Freeman mines 3 and 6, Inland Steel/Consol, and Old Ben mines 21, 24 and 26.

Miners who worked at Keller and North mines, as well as Old Ben mines14 and 22 will also be recognized.

Names of miners killed while working at the six mines will be etched on the monument while names of those who worked in the mines will be on engraved bricks surrounding the monument

The memorial, which will be located in Sesser’s City Park, will cost about $100,000, Danny Sample, one of those involved in the effort, said.

“We’re within $30,000 of our goal,” said Sample, who spent 39 years working in the mines.

Funds are being raised through donations and the sale of bricks and benches to surround the memorial, Sample said.

For more information, call Sesser Monument Co. at 618-625-2491.