Jones, Mary "Mother" | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Mary "Mother" Jones

Born May 1, 1830

County Cork, Ireland

Died November 30, 1930

Silver Spring, Maryland

Fierce advocate for the rights of working people, especially coal miners

"Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living."

Like many immigrants to the United States, Mary Harris Jones led a hard life. She experienced the economic hardships that were common to factory workers in the middle of the nineteenth century. But it was as a campaigner for coal miners that she gained her nickname, Mother Jones, and a national reputation for making trouble for mine owners. Jones was symbolic of the struggle waged by workers to achieve better lives in the face of unyielding opposition by business. Her willingness to fight against the wealthy class was an attitude that she brought with her from her native Ireland.

The Spirit of a Rebel

Mary Harris Jones was born Mary Harris in Cork, Ireland, the daughter of Richard and Mary Harris, on May 1, 1830. But although that was the date she gave in her autobiography, she may have altered her birthday to coincide with the date marking the anniversary of a riot in Chicago that pitted the police against workers who were on strike, or refusing to work until their employer met their demands, for an eight-hour work day.

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