User:NatFee/"General" Alexander Bradley

(your article name) is... (description)

Early Life

edit

Alexander Bradley was born in England on November 29, 1866.[1] The Bradley family emigrated to Illinois when Alexander was four years old.[2]

By 1873, nine-year-old "Alex" was picking slate at a mine called "Devil's Hole" near Collinsville, Illinois.[1]

The Bradley family moved to Mount Olive, Illinois.

"When there was no work in the mines, Alexander went to St. Louis and met other out of work, disaffected miners. He joined the hobo group, called Coxey’s army after its leader, and marched with them to Washington, D.C., in 1894."[2]

Labor Organizing

edit

Bradley became a self-appointed organizer for the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).[1]

The UMWA called for a nationwide strike on July 4, 1897.[1] Bradley held a secret meeting with other miners, and Bradley spoke at Belleville to convince more miners to strike.[1] He led a group of about 300 miners on a march from Mount Olive to Staunton, Worden, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Collinsville, O'Fallon.[1] The newspapers nicknamed him "the General".[1]

Battle of Virden

edit

Bradley played a role in the Battle of Virden.

Death

edit

Bradley died in 1918 from lung disease exacerbated by coal dust and alcohol.[1]

His headstone faces Mother Jones monument in Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Illinois.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Keiser, John H. (1969). "The Union Miners Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois: A Spirit-Thread of Labor History". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984). 62 (3): 229–266. ISSN 0019-2287.
  2. ^ a b "General Bradley". Mother Jones Museum. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
edit