Banner Mine disaster

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The Banner mine disaster of April 8, 1911 near Littleton, Alabama was a coal mine explosion that killed 128 people. The event ranks among the 15 deadliest coal mine disasters in U.S. history.{{cite web|title=Coal Mining Disasters: 1839 to Present|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/coaldisasters.html|website=Center for Disease Control and Prevention|accessdate=15 July 2016}}

The exact cause of the early-morning blast is unknown. It is likely that an accidental spark ignited gas in the air, which directly killed seven men and knocked out a ventilation fan. Without the fan, levels of blackdamp rose in the mine. Another 121 miners suffocated. About 40 other workers were able to dig their way through rubble and escape.{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Adam|title=State's larger mining accident claimed 128 men 100 years ago|url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20110408/states-larger-mining-accident-claimed-128-men-100-years-ago|accessdate=1 October 2016|publisher=Tuscaloosa News|date=8 April 2011}}

The Banner Mine was run by Pratt Consolidated Coal Company, then owned by Tennessee Coal & Iron. Seventy-two of the casualties were black convicts leased from the state and from Jefferson County.{{cite book|last1=Flynt|first1=Wayne|title=Poor But Proud|date=February 5, 2016|publisher=University of Alabama Press|location=2990}} The explosion brought enough attention to horrific mine conditions for new governor Emmet O'Neal to push a mine safety bill through the legislature.{{cite web|last1=Ward|first1=Robert David|title=Banner Mine Tragedy of 1911|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1135|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|accessdate=1 October 2016}}