Labor Movement Heros

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones           Samuel Gompers       Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones

"I'm not a humanitarian, I'm a hell-raiser." Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was an IWW activist who played a key role in American labor history. In 1913, at the age of 80, she came to Ludlow, Colorado, to help the ongoing UMWA strike. In Ludlow, she was evicted from her house for supporting the strike, and was twice imprisoned for her political activities. In the face of brutal attempts by the mine owners to run her out of town, Mother Jones inspired the miners to continue their struggle.

Websites to visit:

The Autobiography of Mother Jones:  # 

Memorable Mother Jones quotes:  # 

Short biographies
     PBS Faces of Protest:  # 
     Mother Jones, the Miners' Angel: # 
     A Celebration of Women Writers: Who Was Mother Jones?  
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     The Spartacus Schoolnet site includes a number of labor history links      
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     Ralph Chaplin Remembers Mother Jones:
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     Labor Hall of Fame Honoree, with reading list:  
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     Windows to the Past at New River Gorge National River site:
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     Mother Jones' Final Sojourn from the George Meany Memorial Archives:
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Mother Jones Collection (papers and photographs):
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The Mother Jones Monument, Mount Olive, Illinois:
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The Mother Jones Market:  # 

Mother Jones Magazine:  # 
Mother Jones magazine archives: 
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More Labor Heros

     PBS Faces of Protest:  # for the 90-minute documentary Joe Hill.

     Bibliography of Women's Labor History