Editing West Frankfort, Illinois (section)

===1951 coal mine explosion===
The Orient No. 2 coal mine exploded on December 21, 1951, killing 119 men.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mine accidents in the United States |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/06/mine.accidents.timeline/index.html |access-date=6 July 2020 |agency=CNN |date=6 April 2010}}</ref> The mine, located outside of West Frankfort, was one of the area's major employers.  According to lifelong residents, everyone in West Frankfort was affected by this tragedy, including grade schoolers of the time who remember their own losses or the suffering of classmates.  Many residents had even said they could never celebrate Christmas again.  After the catastrophe, the West Frankfort Junior High School became a temporary morgue for identification of the bodies,<ref>{{cite news |title=West Frankfort, IL Coal Mine Gas Explosion, Dec 1951 |url=https://www.gendisasters.com/illinois/5505/west-frankfort-il-coal-mine-gas-explosion-dec-1951 |access-date=6 July 2020 |work=Waterloo Daily Courier |date=23 December 1951}}</ref> with many calls going out for funeral directors.  The explosion received national attention from the wire services, newspapers and ''[[Life Magazine]]''.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}  Illinois Governor [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] visited the site to support those mourning.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} The [[United States Bureau of Mines]] called the explosion "avoidable,"  with the disaster resulting in Congress passing the [[Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} In 2020, after years of planning and funding, locals unveiled a new $40,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=40000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) memorial monument in Coal Miners Memorial Park, which records the names of all 119 men killed in the disaster.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}