Mary Harris Jones

Mary Harris Jones (1837-November 30, 1930) was an American schoolteacher and tailor.Elliott J. Gorn, Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America (New York: Hill and Wang, 2002), p. 149 In 1867 her husband and their four children died of yellow fever during an epidemic.Elliott J. Gorn, Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America (New York: Hill and Wang, 2002), p. 180 There was a fire in Chicago, in 1871. Harris Jones' workshop was destroyed in that fire; she lost everything she had.James Stuart Olson, Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in America (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001), p. 149 She turned towards the Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labor was an association of workers who also accepted black people and women. From this point on, Harris Jones became active in the labour movement, fighting for better working conditions and better pay of the workers. In 1905, she was a founding member of Industrial Workers of the World, a trade union.  

She was an amazing speaker because she was able to use stories as examples in her speeches, and she could also make the audience participate. In 1897, she got the title "Mother Jones". She was 60 at the time. In 1903, she was upset about the bad working conditions of children. For this reason, she organised a march where children marched from Philadelphia to the home of President Roosevelt in New York. In 1992 she was inducted into the Hall of Honor by the United States Department of Labor.

 References 

Category:Industrial Workers of the World
Category:1837 births
Category:1930 deaths
Category:People from Cork (city)