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Annotation 3

9845
CENTRALIA MINE DISASTER: On 25 March 1947, an explosion at the Centralia Coal Company in Centralia, Illinois, killed 111 miners. Following the disaster, John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, called a two-week national memorial work stoppage on 400,000 soft-coal miners. A year earlier, against the opposition of coal operators, the Interior Department had issued a complete and strict Federal Mine Code, which strengthened regulations governing the use of explosives and machinery and set new standards for ventilation and dust control in mining operations.

Contents of this annotation:

  1. John L. Lewis addresses Congress of Industrial Organizations about the history of mine accidents and losses