November 30th, 1930
Mary Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones, was a prominent Irish born, American labor and community organizer, former schoolteacher, as well as a prominent union leader. She played a significant role in the labor movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
She helped coordinate major strikes, secure bans on child labor, and co-founded the socialist trade union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
After Jones’s husband and four children all died of yellow fever in 1867 and her dress shop was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, she became an organizer for the Knights of Labor and the United Mine Workers union. In 1902, she was called “the most dangerous woman in America” for her success in organizing miners and their families against the mine owners.
In 1903, to protest the lax enforcement of the child labor laws in the Pennsylvania mines and silk mills, she organized a children’s march from Philadelphia to the home of President Theodore Roosevelt in New York.
Birth
Mary Harris Jones was born on August 01, 1837, in County Cork, Ireland.
Early Life
Jones immigrated to the United States with her family during the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s. She later married George Jones, a union ironworker.
Tragedies
Mother Jones experienced significant personal tragedies, including the loss of her husband and four children to yellow fever in Memphis in 1867 and the loss of her home in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Involvement in Labor Activism
Jones became deeply involved in labor activism and the fight for workers’ rights. She was an outspoken advocate for fair wages, safe working conditions, and child labor laws.
Labor Strikes and Campaigns
Mother Jones played a key role in numerous labor strikes and campaigns. Notably, she was involved in the United Mine Workers (UMW) strikes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, advocating for the rights of coal miners.
March of the Mill Children
In 1903, Mother Jones organized the “March of the Mill Children,” a protest in which child laborers marched from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt’s home in Long Island to raise awareness about child labor conditions.
Founding the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Mother Jones was involved in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905, a radical labor union aimed at organizing workers in various industries.
Later Years and Death
Mother Jones continued her activism into her later years. She passed away on November 30, 1930, at the age of 93.
Mother Jones is remembered as a fierce advocate for workers’ rights and social justice. Her contributions to the labor movement left a lasting impact, and her legacy is celebrated by those who continue the fight for workers’ rights and fair labor practices.
