Miner's Memorial, (sculpture).

Miner's Memorial, (sculpture).

Fantone, Alcide, sculptor.

S. White & Sons, contractor.

Miner's Memorial, (sculpture).

1973. Dedicated May 26, 1974.

Digital Reference:

Figure: Barre granite; Base: Black African stone; Monolith: granite.

Figure: approx. 9 ft. x 34 in. x 34 in.; Base: approx. 61 x 48 x 48 in.; Monoliths: each approx. 7 ft. 4 in. x 36 in. x 36 in.

(On front of base:) WE PAUSE/TO REMEMBER/THE COAL MINER/WHO LOST/HIS LIFE/IN THE MINE

A standing figure of a miner dressed in work clothes. He wears a hard hat with a light attached to it, a loose work shirt with large collars and chest pockets, and loose, baggy pants with the cuffs tightly bound at the ankles. He also wears a belt with two boxes attached at the rear. One of the boxes is a square battery pack with a wire running to his hard hat, and the other box is an oval. His arms hang down by his sides with his proper right hand resting on his proper right thigh. Behind his proper left leg is a pile of coal which supports the leg. The pile of coal is black. Behind his proper right leg, at the rear of the plinth, is a round lunch bucket.

The statue is surrounded by ten tall granite monoliths, each bearing the names, maps, and county seats of the counties in District 31 of the United Mine Workers of America. Two of the monoliths include two counties each for a total of twelve counties represented. Around the statue is a circular concrete walk. A cedar tree is planted between each of the granite pillars. A concrete walk leads into the circle and a lectern made of Black African stone is located in the outer circle in front of the sculpture.

Occupation -- Industry -- Mining

Disaster -- Accident -- Mine Accident

Figure male -- Full length

Dress -- Accessory -- Protective Gear

Outdoor Sculpture -- West Virginia

Coadministered by Marion County, Marion County Commission, 200 Jackson Street, Fairmont, West Virginia 26554

Coadministered by Marion County, Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission, P. O. Box 1258, Fairmont, West Virginia 26554

Located Mary Lou Retton Youth Park, Monongah West Virginia 26554

Formerly located Marion County Consolidated Park, Monogah, West Virginia 26554

Alcide Fantone carved the statue, while S. White & Sons were responsible for the construction and erection of the monument. The counties represented on the monoliths are: Marion, Harrison, Barbour, Grant, Greenbrier, Mineral, Randolph, Monongalia, Nicholas, Preston, Upshur, and Webster. IAS files contain related articles from Mountain Echo (Keyser, WV), March 7, 1974; and Morgantown Dominion Post (Morgantown, WV), March 3, 1974; a copy of the dedication brochure and two unidentified newspaper articles. Mary Lou Retton Youth Park was formerly named the Marion County Consolidated Park. Funds for the monument were raised by the Miners Memorial Shrine, a nonprofit organization established specifically to erect and maintain the piece.

The idea for the monument originated following the November 1968 explosion at Farmington No. 9, where 78 men died. The monument was designed to commemorate those who lost their lives in that explosion; 16 men who were killed at No. 9 in 1954, and 361 killed at Monongagh in 1907. Cost of the monument was $100,000.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, West Virginia survey, 1992.

Mountain Echo (Keyser, WV), March 7, 1974.

Mountain Echo, (Keyser, WV), March 7, 1974.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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