In a coincidental follow up to my Report of November 26th " Coal Mine Disasters Remind Of Early Italian Immigrant Hardships & Mans Inhumanity to Man"  You will want to view this Program as it is Aired OR Online, at the URL below. 

Our thanks to  Karen Tintori, author of "TRAPPED: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster" and to Walter Santi for Reminding me of the Important Dawson AZ  Mine Disaster, in which EIGHT of the Santi Clan lost their Lives.  Dawson has the sad legacy of having the highest number of Italian worker deaths to occur during the history of Italian emigration. There were "Disasters" at Dawson  in 1913 and 1923. As I state in my Report, those Disaster mentioned were in NO WAY inclusive, and were merely the tip of the Scope of the Long, Long List of Miseries.
Video Clip: http://dawson.vps.it/video.php

The only appropriate way to commemorate the Victims of these Disasters is to work toward making this Country a More Humane place for ALL it's Citizens, and Require Legislation, when appropriate to RESTRAIN Corporate GREED that would make "disposable" Serfs of us All. 

On Sunday, November 29, 2009, C-SPAN 3 will air a panel discussion by four authors who have written about the historic Cherry Mine disaster, which claimed the lives of 259 men and boys in northern Illinois 100 years ago
this month. The program was hosted by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, which recently opened a magnificent installation about the disaster, covering two floors. "The Flames Caught Us" will close in March.

Ray Tutag Jr.'s musical presentation followed our panel discussion. Check your local listings for time, 

The Cherry Mine disaster still stands as the worst coal fire in US history, and its third worst coal disaster for loss of life. It was the first instance of the application of workers compensation in this country, prompting Illinois to pass workers comp legislation the following year; it changed mine, mine safety and child labor laws, spurred the creation of the Bureau of Mines (before Cherry, mine legislation was left to the states; it led to the creation of the mine rescue stations, bringing equipment and trained men closer to the mines.

Help for Cherry's trapped miners had to come from downstate at Urbana-Champaign and from Pittsburgh.

The show will also be aired online at the following link, once it airs on television.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/289877-1

It is an amazing story of heroism and survival. Picture the Titanic and the Tower of Babel set in an underground coal mine -- one that had been declared fireproof I'm thrilled C-SPAN is bringing this little known, yet historically significant, disaster to a wider audience..

Most of the victims of the Cherry Mine Disaster were recent Italian immigrants from Emilia-Romagna, and that every year in Fanano, Italy, the emigrants who died in the disaster and who survived are remembered with great ceremony.

The Italian government repatriated the Italian widows and orphans who wished to leave Illinois after the disaster.

Karen Tintori, author
TRAPPED: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster
www.karentintori.com
 

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[Formerly Italy at St Louis]