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Mary G. Harris
aka "Mother Jones" |
| Bev's Presentation | ||
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In 1903, Jones organized children who were working in mills
and mines to participate in a "Children's Crusade",
a march from Kensington, Philadelphia to Oyster Bay, New York,
the hometown of President Theodore Roosevelt with banners demanding
"We want to go to school and not the mines!"
Bev will present the life and words and contributions of "Mother Jones." She will connect the stories to today's labor issues. Child labor, wage inequities, industrial safety issues, explain the life and times of the early labor movement organizers and find out if you are willing to rally to the cause. |
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| Born Into Hardship | (Bio & photos sourced from wikipedia.com) | |
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Mary G. Harris was born on the north side of the city
of Cork, Ireland, the daughter of Roman Catholic tenant farmers.
Her exact date of birth is uncertain but she was baptized on 1 August 1837.
Mary Harris and her family were victims of the Great Famine, as were many other Irish families. This famine drove more than a million families, including the Harrises, to emigrate to North America when Mary was ten years old. |
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A Young Widow Becomes A Labor Organizer |
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The loss of her husband and their four children,
all under the age of five, in 1867, during a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis,
marked a turning point in her life.
She returned to Chicago to begin a dressmaking
business.
Four years later, she lost her home, shop,
and possessions in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
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Jones, like many others, helped rebuild the city.
This led to her joining the Knights of Labor.
The Haymarket Riot of 1886 and the fear of anarchism
incited by union organizations resulted in the demise
of that union when an anarchist threw a bomb into
an altercation between the Chicago police and workers on strike.
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Active as an organizer and educator in strikes throughout
the country at the time, she was involved particularly with
the United Mine Workers and the Socialist Party of America.
West Virginian district attorney, Reese Blizzard proclaimed, "There sits the most dangerous woman in America. She comes into a state where peace and prosperity reign ... crooks her finger, twenty thousand contented men lay down their tools and walk out." |
