65 DEAD, 28 MISSING AFTER MINE BLASTS; ONLY EIGHT RESCUED, reads the front page of The New York Times on January 14, 1926.

On January 13, 1926, at 7:55 a.m., life in Wilburton, Oklahoma changed forever. Just twenty‑five minutes after 101 miners descended into the Degnan‑McConnell No. 21 Mine to begin their day’s work, a massive explosion tore through the tunnels. The blast was so powerful that debris shot from the mine entrance, a fifty foot tongue of fire rose from the entrance, and  the tremor was felt throughout the town. Within moments, word spread and cars raced toward the site. Families, neighbors, and entire communities held their breath as the scale of the tragedy became clear.

The explosion sealed 101 men in a 400‑foot‑deep tomb. Only ten would make it out alive.

What followed was one of the most intense rescue efforts in Oklahoma mining history. Miners and rescue crews rushed in from Hartshorne, Red Oak, Pittsburg, Kiowa, Chilli, Lutie, Great Western, and beyond. Hundreds of men volunteered without hesitation, working in six‑hour shifts around the clock, crawling through wreckage, battling fire, and pushing deeper into the mine in hopes of finding survivors.

Two men—Cecil McKinney and Beryl Holland—were miraculously found alive after hours of crawling through darkness, debris, and unimaginable terror. But for 91 others, rescue was not in the cards.

The disaster left 65 widows and 200 orphans and remains one of the deadliest mining tragedies in Oklahoma’s history.  The blast made the news as far away as Chicago and New York.  

A Community United in Grief and Duty

One of the most striking truths of the No. 21 Mine disaster is that the majority of the men who died were African American—approximately 85% of Wilburton’s Black population at the time. Entire families, entire neighborhoods, were devastated in a single morning.

And yet, in the face of overwhelming loss, the community came together in a way that transcended race, class, and circumstance. Black and white miners worked side by side in the rescue tunnels. Townspeople from every background gathered at the improvised morgue—set up in what is now Cole’s General Store—to help identify loved ones, comfort grieving families, and prepare the dead for burial. Undertakers from McAlester, Hartshorne, Poteau, and Fort Smith arrived to assist. Caskets were brought in by the truckload. Churches opened their doors. Neighbors fed one another. Strangers held each other up.

In a time when segregation and racial division were the norm, Wilburton showed what humanity looks like when compassion overrides everything else.

Lessons From a Century Ago

One hundred years later, the concrete ventilation fan casing still stands west of town—a silent monument to the men who never came home. It reminds us not only of the dangers miners faced, but also of the strength of a community that refused to look away from tragedy.

As we honor the memory of the 91 men who lost their lives, we also honor the resilience, courage, and unity shown in the days that followed. Their story teaches us something timeless:

It should not take a horrific event to bring people together.

We do not need a disaster to remind us of our shared humanity.

We can choose—every day—to support one another, to work together, and to build a community rooted in empathy and action.

On this 100‑year anniversary, we remember the miners.

We remember their families.

We remember the rescuers who risked everything.

And we recommit ourselves to learning from the past so that their sacrifice is never forgotten.

The names of those who lost their lives on January 13, 1926 are as follows:

A.B. Thomas, John Evans, Roy Greenfield, Barney Dailey, Burnard Dailey, Allen Cox, Sam Wilson, Jim Wilson, Buster Wilson, Perry Johnson, Cecil McKinney, Alix Havoneck, John Wetumsky, Charley Julius, Robert Lucas, Ben McFadden, Lui Endrizzi, Michael Domminic, Lottie Mitchell, Elick Farbia, Jim Chapman, Dave Washington, Albert McBride, Nicholas Moore, Bud Cole, R.V. Benson, Bill Banister, Ambros Harris, Phillip Loyd, Otto Brown, C. Cole, Major Slaughter, Henry Webb, Levi Brown, Norman Burr, Walter Roberson, Frank Wilson, Willie Smith, Loyd Perkins, Pete Cass, William Graham, John Hancock, Bill Brown, George Edmunds, Brad McLendon, Willie Smitherman, Claud Phillips, Will Gravely, Charles Anderson, Louis Roberson, Howard Phiffer, Kiah Oulds, Jim Hambry, Strick Williams, Alonzo Franklin, Clarence Brown, J.T. Phiffer, Luther Randolph, Loyd Phillips, Bob Phillips, Jim Allen, Luther Chapman, Vernon Filer, Fox Randolph, L. Mason, John Washington, Sherman Gravely, Arthur Bobbins, Howard Russell, John Mason, John Donley, Tim Zackery, James McBride, George Franklin, George Phillips, Lee Perkins, Jim Latham, S. Perkins, John Anthony, Joe Sinclaire, Robert Boyd, Fred Haskins, Henry Randolph, Vandy Franklin, Jim Zachary, Carl Stover, Chester Chandler, Charles Witherspoon, Will Pratt, Sol Brown.