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Hellraisers Journal – Saturday August 23, 1919
Homestead, Pennsylvania -Mother Jones and Steel Organizers Arrested
From the Lebanon Daily News of August 21, 1919:
MOTHER JONES LABOR AGITATOR
WAS ARRESTED
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Charged With Attempting To Hold Street Meeting
In Homestead, Pa., Without Permit-Trouble Threatened When “Mother”
Was Taken to Lockup.(Special to News by United Press).
Homestead, Pa., Aug. 21.-Mother Jones, labor agitator, and three organizers for the American Federation of Labor, were to appear in police court here today on charges of attempting to hold a street meeting without a permit. They were arrested last night [August 20th] while addressing a gathering of iron and steel workers.
A crowd of several thousand foreigners threatened trouble when the police took Mother Jones to the station house. She had mounted the rear seat of the automobile which carried her and addressed the crowd, advising them to “go home and be good boys.” The crowd gave three cheers for the United States and dispersed.
Mother Jones and the three of organizers-J. G. Brown, of Seattle Wash., J. L. Boghan, of Chicago, and R. W. Riley, of Homestead-were released on positing $15 forfeits.
[Photograph and emphasis added.]
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SOURCES
Quote Mother Jones, Fight for Flag,
-Rockford IL Morn Str p4, Apr 9, 1919
https://www.genealogybank.com/
Lebanon Daily News
(Lebanon, Pennsylvania)
-Aug 21, 1919
https://www.newspapers.com/image/13422707/
IMAGE
Mother Jones Women in Industry, Eve Ns Hburg PA p2, Jan 6, 1919
https://www.newspapers.com/image/57884211
See also:
Tag: National Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers
https://weneverforget.org/tag/national-committee-for-organizing-iron-and-steel-workers/
The Autobiography of Mother Jones
Charles Kerr, Chicago, 1925
-Chapter 24: The Steel Strike of 1919
https://www.iww.org/history/library/MotherJones/autobiography/24
Mother Jones tells the story of her arrest at Homestead:
I was speaking in Homestead. A group of organizers were with me in an automobile. As soon as a word was said, the speaker was immediately arrested by the steel bosses’ sheriff. I rose to speak. An officer grabbed me.
“Under arrest!” he said.
We were taken to jail. A great mob of people collected outside the prison. There was angry talk. The jailer got scared. He thought there might be lynching and he guessed who would be lynched. The mayor was in the jail, too, conferring with the jailer. He was scared. He looked out of the office windows and he saw hundreds of workers milling around and heard them muttering.
The jailer came to Mr. Brown and asked him what he had better do.
“Why don’t you let Mother Jones go out and speak to them,” he said. “They’ll do anything she says.”
So the jailer came to me and asked me to speak to the boys outside and ask them to go home.
I went outside the jail and told the boys I was going to be released shortly on bond, and that they should go home now and not give any trouble. I got them in a good humor and pretty soon they went away. Meanwhile while I was speaking, the mayor had sneaked out the back way.
We were ordered to appear in the Pittsburgh court the next morning. A cranky old judge asked me if I had had a permit to speak on the streets.
“Yes, sir,” said I. “I had a permit.”
“Who issued it?” he growled.
“Patrick Henry; Thomas Jefferson; John Adams!” said I.
The mention of those patriots who gave us our charter of liberties made the old steel judge sore. He fined us all heavily.
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Homestead Strike Song – Pete Seeger