by Tula Connell, May 3, 2011
Wow. I’m blown away. The only-known video and audio recording of Mary Harris ”Mother” Jones is in the clip at left. Recorded in 1930 on what possibly was her 100th birthday (historians aren’t sure of her year of birth), it shows even at an advanced age, she hadn’t lost any of the spark that fueled her life-long activism on behalf of improving the lot of workers.
After much personal tragedy, Mother Jones went on to become a union organizer, and was so effective, the Mine Workers sent her into the coalfields to sign up miners. She was banished from more towns and was held incommunicado in more jails in more states than any other union leader of the time. In 1912, she was even charged with a capital offense by a military tribunal in West Virginia and held under house arrest for weeks until popular outrage and national attention forced the governor to release her.
Mother Jones also was very concerned about child workers. During a silk strike in Philadelphia, 100,000 workers—including 16,000 children—left their jobs over a demand that their workweek be cut from 60 to 55 hours. To attract attention to the cause of abolishing child labor, in 1903, she led a children’s march of 100 children from the textile mills of Philadelphia to New York City “to show the New York millionaires our grievances.” She led the children all the way to President Theodore Roosevelt’s Long Island home.
Mother Jones still inspires: A student writes on the Youtube page with her video:
•AMEN i didnt even know she exsisted until mr. williams made us do an essay on someone and dress up like them … she has really inspired me to make a difference
H/t to the Wisconsin Labor History Society for pointing out the video, and D.C.’s own labor activist, Concarbon, for uploading it.
Communicator's comment: Watch the video here.
