[2] The 7-foot (2.1 m) tall statue rests on a 3-foot (0.91 m) square, granite base supported by a cement foundation that is 4–6 inches (100–150 mm) thick.

After submitting an 18-inch (460 mm) model of the sculpture, which was approved, Szaton received a contract to create the full-scale piece.

[4] In 1965 the Indiana General Assembly appropriated funds to commission a copy of the sculpture to memorialize Hoosier coal miners who had been killed on the job.

[1][6] He also worked on project for Taft and other artists, including the Lincoln Trail State Memorial by Nellie Walker, his wife's aunt.

[1] During the 1940s Szaton created several other sculptures: a War Memorial (1940) at the Northwest Armory, Chicago; Indian Shooting the Stars (1947) for Lane Tech High School, Chicago, as a tribute to students who died in World War II; and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (1947) for Cedar Park Cemetery, Calumet Park, Illinois.

[1] Szaton continued to work at Taft's studio until it disbanded in 1947, then moved his family to Tinley Park, at that time a small rural suburb of Chicago, and commuted to Chicago to work during the week as a greeting card engraver; income from art commissions was not sufficient to sustain his family.

[1] In 1948 Szaton built a large, vaulted-ceiling garage studio behind his home and continued to work on art projects.

Szaton's 7-ft. bronze statue, The Coal Miner, is displayed on the lawn of the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield.

[5] He carries a miner's fire safety lamp, or "bug light",[7] in his proper left hand, which is at his side.

He wears a MSA Comfo Cap Model P[8] miner's hat with its battery pack clipped to the backside of his belt.