Also on this day in 1880, John L. Lewis, labor leader, specifically The United Mine Workers of America. A controversial figure, but revered by miners and their families. Four of my great uncles were lifelong miners.
The diptych references my great grandfather, who died in a mine accident. The bottom panel is a slag heap from an east central Illinois deep mine. The heaps are the non-coal residue of mining, and though some have been removed for the stone, they are a distinctive feature arising out of the flat cornfields.
Posts
