April 28 is Workers' Memorial Day, established in 1989 as an international day of remembrance for workers who died or were injured on the job. This day is the anniversary of the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Here in Washington, we have at least four memorials to workers:

"Amtrak Workers" at Union Station, honoring Amtrak employees who "lost their lives in performance of their duties";

"Metro Workers" at the Dupont Circle Metro, dedicated to workers killed while building the Metro system;

"National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial" at Judiciary Square, honoring America's federal, state and local law enforcers who have been killed in the line of duty, dating back to the first known death in 1794; and

"U.S. Arsenal Explosion Monument" in the Congressional Cemetery, a towering spire marks the burial site of 21 female munitions workers who were killed on June 17, 1864, in an explosion, the city's worst civilian disaster during the Civil War.

Also, just a few days remain to see a powerful photography exhibit, "Our Future in Retrospect – Coal Miner Health in Appalachia," now on display at the AFL-CIO. Photo journalist Earl Dotter, known for his award-winning photographs documenting the lives of working Americans, joined with the Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University to produce the exhibit, dedicated to the 21 coal miners killed on the job in West Virginia, Kentucky, Utah and Maryland this year.

The exhibit combines Dotter's present-day look at health and safety issues in America's coalfields with Russell W. Lee's 1946 photography on the gamut of issues in coal communities: mining fatalities, miners' lung health, coalfield clinics, nutrition, water quality and housing. Lee was assigned by President Harry Truman to a federal investigative team to collect data and document health and safety conditions in the nation's mines and coalfield communities. That investigation's report, which included hundreds of Lee's photographs, was the genesis for significant improvements in the lives of miners and their families.

When: Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through May 1
Where: AFL-CIO (815 16th St. NW)