Statewide

Reporting from in and around Illinois.Listen to Statewide on WNIJ Saturdays 6-7 a.m. and Sundays 6-7 p.m.

Statewide: A century after the Herrin Massacre

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Sean Crawford

Published June 17, 2022 at 3:23 AM CDT

The barbed wire fence where men were lined up and shot on June 22, 1922.

This month marks the 100th anniversary of one of the deadliest labor disputes in the country. Striking coal miners in the town of Herrin clashed with men brought in to operate a local mine.

The situation escalated and soon turned violent. In the end, nearly two dozen people were killed, most of them strikebreakers. We look back on a dark chapter in the history of organized labor and southern Illinois.

On the show this week,

* Dave McKinney recaps a WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times poll and what it means for Republicans in Illinois.

* Jennifer Fuller talks with Prof. John Jackson about the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute's research into changing politics.

The burying of the dead after the Herrin Massacre

* Sean Crawford discusses the Herrin Massacre with author and historian Jon Musgraves.

* Alex Degman previews the race in the 15th congressional district pitting Republican incumbents Rodney Davis against Mary Miller.

* Tim Shelley interviews biologist Emily Hodapp about a rare flower, the decurrent false aster, and efforts to save it.

* Peter Medlin with WNIJ reports on "expulsions in abeyance." Students facing discipline are sometimes sent away to adaptive learning sites.