Autobiography of Mother Jones
Mary Harris Jones
Paperback
(Independently published, June 22, 2017)
“A story of a woman of action fired by a fine zeal. She defied calumny. She was not awed by guns or jails. She kept on her way regardless of friends and foes. She had but one love to which she was always true and that was her cause.” In this unique and compelling memoir, Mother Jones, the greatest labor organizer in US history details her long fight for labor's liberation, workers’ rights, and her unswerving belief in industrial unionism as the key to that struggle. Mary Harris Jones was born approximately August 1, 1837 in Cork, Ireland. After moving to the United States as a child, she became embroiled in the controversial labor movement becoming one of its most effective and tireless organizers. Jones combined dynamic speaking skills and radical organizing methods to mobilize thousands of laborers and working-class families. She fought for the rights of laborers in the steel, railroading, metal mining, textiles industries but, above all, the coal-miners and their struggle held a special place in her heart. She played a significant role in organizing mining strikes in West Virginia and Colorado, as well as the Pittsburgh steel strike of 1919. She was instrumental in the formation of the United Mine Workers union (UMW) in 1890 and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905. Widowed at the age of 30 when her husband and four young children died during a yellow fever epidemic, Mother Jones spoke out against child labor and her autobiography chronicles the harsh lives and early deaths of child workers in late nineteenth century America. Her autobiography also contains stories of her constant clashes with law enforcement, her innovative efforts to organize working women, her experiences in court and in jail, and her daring involvement in the Mexican Revolution. Mother Jones' lively narrative is a cornerstone of the literature of American radicalism and the labor movement. “An important addition to feminist literature, the Autobiography of Mother Jones is also a great piece of working-class literature…probably the most readable book in the whole field of American labor history." — Clarence Darrow. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1837 – 30 November 1930) was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent organized labor representative and community organizer. She wrote The Autobiography of Mother Jones in 1925 at the age of 88. Mary Harris Jones died in Silver Spring, Maryland at the age of 93 on 30 November 1930.