For Labor Day - The Autobiography of Mother Jones

[BumRushDaShow]

I have posted this in the past after spending the almost 6 hours of time listening to the audio rendition of Mary Harris Jones' book as read by LibreVox public domain narrators.

Hers was a remarkable story that even involved a famous march through my own home city of Philadelphia to protest the child labor in the textile industry at the time.

Enjoy!

[2naSalit]

1. Bookmarked for later...

Thanks for posting.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. You are welcome

Her autobiography showcased how she could weave a compelling yet painful narrative of her life and works.

From July 7 (it'll be 120 years ago in 2023) -

Link to tweet

TEXT

This Day in Irish History
@ThisDayIrish
This day 118 years ago – 7 July 1903 – Cork-born union organiser Mary Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones, began the March of the Mill Children from Kensington, Pennsylvania to Oyster Bay, New York.

The march was spurred by the child labour breaches she had witnessed.
Image
3:00 AM · Jul 7, 2021

March route with the children -





Since the book itself is in the public domain, there are a number of places that have it online including here - https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/jones/autobiography/autobiography.html

[appalachiablue]

3. The Miners Angel. Thanks for remembering & posting.

http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/labor-history-articles/mother-jones-the-miners-angel

(NPCA) .. From 1897 until the mid-1910s, Mother Jones returned time and again to unionize laborers in the mines located in what is now New River Gorge National Park and Preserve and other coal fields of West Virginia and help improve their working conditions. During a labor conflict that has been described as the largest U.S.-based insurrection outside the Civil War, she faced bullets and thugs and endured military trials and imprisonment. For weeks on end, she would crisscross the rugged countryside — often at night to avoid detection — to reach remote mining camps. And she did it all in her 60s and 70s.

“It takes such a dogged and persistent person to do this day after day after day,” said Catherine Moore, the president of the board of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. “She was kind of a badass.”..

https://www.npca.org/articles/2937-miners-angel

[BumRushDaShow]

4. That whole section of her book

about that organizing of the miners and the aftermath (and her being thrown in jail IIRC) was something else. She wasn't afraid to "ride shotgun" either (and knew how to use one).

I think she saw the tragedy of what happened with those men and that just made her even more persistent. And back then, they didn't know what to make of her outside of probably considering her a "trouble maker". But since she didn't embark on these efforts until she was older, she had a level of maturity and experience that made them hold their tongues in many cases.