who died during the Mather mine disaster on May 19, 1928 ..... 74 years earlier.
Inscribed on the front panel are the names of the 195 men who lost their lives in the disaster. On the reverse side are inscribed commemorative plaques, in memory or in honor of, family members or friends who worked in the Mather mine.
The eight foot monument is made of black granite and sits on the lawn in front of the First Christian Church in the center of town. This site is somewhat temporary in that upon completion of the gob pile reclamation and redevelopment, it is proposed that the monument will be moved to that location. The idea of the monument is credited to Orlando "Chick" Virgili and his wife Charlotte, life long residents of the community. Noting that the community of Mather had never formally marked the occurence of the disaster in any permanent way, they decided that it was time to do something about it.
The Sunday afternoon dedication ceremony was hushed as the original mine whistle blew at exactly 4:07 pm. One could only feel empathy for those hearing the whistle back on May 19, 1928, knowing that they had family members or friends working in the mine at that very moment.
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The following is an excerpt from The Greene County Messenger; May 24 - 30, 2002
But it was the eery moan of the Mather Collieries whistle at exactly 4:07 pm Sunday (the day of the dedication service) that silenced the crowd, transporting them back in time to that tragic day.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts vividly described what it must have been like in those first moments. "Imagine you're a wife home washing clothes and tending the children, and you know that whistle means another disaster," he said. "Imagine you're a child and you know there's a chance your father might not be coming home. Imagine the people running to the mine. Imagine the commotion in this community ... Imagine the bodies ... ".
In all, nearly 100 women were widowed and 500 children were orphaned. "Afterwards," Roberts said, "The wives had no husbands, no home, and no place to go. Some went to the company store and begged.
Placing the tragedy in historical perspective, Roberts noted that it occurred:
* seven years before the Wagner Act, which was New Deal legislation to protect workers' rights to unionization and created the National Labor Relations Board;
* and 18 years before health and retirement funds had been established;
* and it was four decades before the creation of the Health and Safety Act of 1969 after
a mine in Farmington, West Virginia exploded.
Roberts said of the men who died on that tragic day in Mather,
"Every one of them were heroes ...
because they died, life has been better for all of us.
Laws were written in their blood."
Source:
Greene County Messenger
May 24 - 30, 2002
