The Bill of Rights was summarily ignored in Illinois' downstate coal mining counties. Progressive Miners of America supporters and organizers risked their lives when they convened a meeting or publicly advocated for their union.

Here’s an image from the February 24, 1933 edition of The Progressive Miner.  By this time wanton violence was all to common practice to disrupt the coal strike and thwart efforts of the Progressive Miners to expand the movement.  And as the cartoon shows the Progressive Miners believed they knew who was responsible.

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