Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1830-1930)

Page by Emily Musil, Fall 1999

Biography

1830*-Mary Harris born near Cork, Ireland to Richard and Helen Harris

1838-1860-Harris family moves to Toronto, Canada where Mary Harris is educated in public school and Normal      school; teaches and does dressmaking in U.S.

1861-1866-marries George Jones, has four** children

1867-1870-Yellow Fever epidemic breaks out in Memphis and kills husband and children; Jones starts dressmaking      business in Chicago working for elite

1871-Chicago Fire burns down dress shop and home; attends first Knights of Labor meeting

1877-first nationwide strike in U.S. history with revolt of railroad workers; from now until 1924, Jones either      organizes or attends every major labor strike; no permanent address for 50 years, just roams the country      supporting laborers

1895-sells copies of socialist paper and begins to advocate socialism in speeches

1900-writes first article for International Socialist Review, signing as “Mother Jones;” leads series of  marches by  women in support of male strikers

1901-begins to focus on women workers; helps strike of miner’s daughters working as silk weavers and assists in forming a union of domestic servants

1907-becomes involved in Mexican liberation

1912-1913-tried and convicted in West Virginia militia court for battling military despotism and sentenced to twenty years; Senate investigation caused by her imprisonment and she is soon freed

1919-leads protest about prison conditions; works in forefront of steel strike of 1919; is arrested numerous times for speaking without a permit

1923-last major public address

1925-Autobiography of Mother Jones published

1930-dies on November 30

*This is the date stated by Mary Jones, however many historians have speculated about her date of birth and mark it anywhere between 1930-1844 **some historians believe that George and Mary Jones had only one child

Contextual Information

Activism seemed to be passed on to Mary Harris as her family had a history of fighting for freedom.  Her grandfather was hanged for his work for Irish freedom, and her father, a laborer, was forced to flee Ireland and move to Canada because he was also an agitator for the cause of Irish liberation.  Mary Harris went through public school and Normal school, where she discovered and developed her skills as a teacher, debater, and a dressmaker. She lived and worked in various states in the U.S. until she married George Jones, an iron molder and labor organizer, in 1861 and settled in Memphis, Tennessee.  After a yellow fever epidemic killed her husband and children, she relocated to Chicago and worked for wealthy women as a dressmaker, sharpening her awareness of class inequalities.  A fire destroyed her home and dress shop, forever changing Jones’ life.  Jones became involved with the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, a labor organizing group. Jones dedicated her life to the cause of helping working people.  She roamed the country for over fifty years, going from strike to strike, speaking, organizing, and protesting for rights for laborers.  She focused mainly on men’s labor, although in the early twentieth century she began to be concerned with more female-dominated fields such as dressmaking and domestic service.  She lived her life outside of the norms for women, yet in her speeches she maintained traditional notions of womanhood.  She was quoted as saying,”the average working woman is unfitted for the ballot...Home training of the child should be her task, and it is the most beautiful of tasks.  Solve the industrial problem and the men will earn enough so that women can remain at home and learn it” (2).  Jones did believe, however, that women had a responsibility to protest and she always encouraged them to stand up  forfreedom as it enslaved and denied rights to their families.

Quotes from “Girl Slaves of the Milwaukee Breweries”  “Organized labor and humanity demand protection for these helpless victims of insatiable greed, in the interest of motherhood of our future state.” “It is indeed true, they are sentenced to hard, brutal labor...And their crime?  Involuntary poverty.”

Bibliography

1.  Atkinson, Linda.  Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America.  New York: Crown Publishers,      1978. 2.  Fetherling, Dale.  Mother Jones, The Miner’s Angel: A Portrait.  London: Southern Illinois Press, 1974. 3.  Foner, Philip S. Mother Jones Speaks: Collected Writings and Speeches.  New York: Monad Press, 1983. 4.  Jones, Mary Harris.  Autobiography of Mother Jones.  Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co., 1925. 5.  Steel, Edward.  The Correspondence of Mother Jones.  Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985. 6.  Steel, Edward.  The Speeches and Writings of Mother Jones.  Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press,        1988.