BUZZ MAGAZINE – As I prepare for the upcoming Labor Day tribute to Ernest (Fred) Long at Woodlawn Cemetery, in Edwardsville, I find myself contemplating the number etched into eternity through his headstone. Nineteen years old.
More than 125 years ago, Fred Long was a coal miner who lost his life alongside seven other United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) laborers, during the Battle of Virden (Illinois) on October 12, 1898. The armed conflict ensued as tensions erupted between the coal miners and the Chicago-Virden Coal Company who refused to honor the hard-won UMWA negotiated contract for safer working conditions and better wages, which included a 40-cent increase in pay.
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The battle of Virden would become one of the defining moments in American labor history. But before Fred was part of history, he was simply a young man who left his Edwardsville home to work the coal mines of Southern Illinois in hopes of making a better future for his family.
Earlier today, I met my own 19-year-old son for his lunch break. We talked about simple things and his looming performance review. This will be his first performance review, marking six-months at his first part-time retail job. Thinking about this and Fred’s story, is a reminder that not every young worker has the opportunity to build a career, gain experience, or imagine a future.
At nineteen, Fred's story became part of U.S. labor history even before his own life had a chance to unfold. We do not know what he dreamed of becoming or what plans he made for the years ahead. But we do know the critical role in history he helped shape. As I finish writing this, my son is back home from work and relieved his performance review went well. His boss told him he was “meeting standards” and would receive his first 40-cent raise.
More than a century separates these two moments for two Edwardsville 19-year-olds, yet they are connected. One young worker is making a small step forward, while another lost everything to fight for worker’s rights. It is a reminder that labor history is not something behind us.
It continues in our everyday lives as we go to work each day.
History is not always made by famous names and moments. Sometimes it is made by a 19-year-old worker whose sacrifice helped build a better future for generations of workers he would never meet.
On September 6 at 1:00 p.m., Woodlawn Cemetery will host a special Labor Day tribute to Fred Long at his gravesite in Edwardsville, which is open to the public. The tribute includes a procession of miners, members of the Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois, words from Mother Jones, labor songs, and the unveiling of a historic plaque for Fred, made possible through the generosity of the Mythic Mississippi Project.
Fred Long’s story will be shared again on September 26 during Woodlawn’s Voices of the Past event through a gravesite reenactment honoring his sacrifice and those who fought for workers’ rights. Free Tickets can be reserved at woodlawnedwardsville.org.
Lara Jennings is a volunteer board member with Woodlawn Cemetery. A special thank you to the members of the Union Miners Cemetery Association in Mt. Olive whose collaboration in this event has been integral in honoring and preserving the legacy of E. Fred Long.
This story originally printed in the September 2026 issue of The Prairie Land Buzz Magazine, www.thebuzzmonthly.com.
