Municipality completes work on Springhill Miners’ Memorial Park prior to 100th Davis Day.
Springhill and area residents will join those in other mining communities across Nova Scotia to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of William Davis, a coal miner killed during a protest while standing up for the rights of miners.
In Springhill, there will be a church service at St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church at 1 p.m. followed by the laying of wreaths at the foot of the memorial stones in Miners’ Memorial Park on Main Street.
| To prepare for the 100th anniversary of the death of Bill Davis and Miners’ Memorial Day, the Municipality of Cumberland has completed some work in Springhill’s Miners’ Memorial Park including levelling and resodding the lawn, restoring the names on the monuments, replacing deteriorated portions of the cement paths and repainting the foundation walls. |
In preparation for the event, the Municipality of Cumberland completed work on the park that included the levelling and resodding of the lawn, restoring the names on the monuments, repairing and replacing deteriorated portions of the cement paths, and repainting the foundation wall.
The work was done collaboratively between the Department of Recreation and Community Services and Public Works.
The park pays homage to the men and boys who lost their lives in Springhill’s coal mines.
This year marks 67 years since the last of three major mine disasters ended large-scale mining in the community. The Bump in October 1958 killed 75 miners, occurring just two years after a mine explosion in 1956 killed 39 miners. The 1891 explosion killed 125 men and boys.
The names of the victims are engraved on the memorials in the park along with several hundred more names of victims killed in the mines throughout the industry’s history in Springhill.
Davis was born in Springhill. He left the community to live and work in the Cape Breton coal mines around 1905.
In March 1925, during a strike, the British Empire Steel Corporation cut off credit to miners and their families, leaving them dependent on the donations, goodwill, and solidarity of the Labour Movement for their survival. Through it all, the miners remained united.
| Restoration work on Miners’ Memorial Park was recently completed by the Municipality of Cumberland. |
In response to the corporation’s attempt to break their strike, in early June 1925 the miners took control of the power plant. In the early hours of June 11, the company police moved in and took the power plant.
Upwards of 2,000 miners then marched to protest the corporation’s actions, and Davis was among them. The company police opened fire, killing Davis and wounding many others.
The ensuing protests led to the Canadian military being called in to police the area, and when a new provincial government was elected later that month, they arranged a settlement to the strike and the continued recognition of the union.
