Tag: Great Steel Strike of 1919

Hellraisers Journal: Steel Strike Begins Monday; Mother Jones Back in Pittsburgh: “I CAME HERE TO RAISE HELL!”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones Raising Hell, NYT p1, Oct 6, 1916———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 20, 1919
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Arrives to “Raise Hell”

From the Fairmont West Virginian of September 18, 1919:

GSS Mother Jones Pittsburgh Ive Come to Raise Hell, W Vgn p1, Sept 18, 1919———-

“I’ve Come to Raise Hell!”
Mother Jones Announces

Famous Labor Worker is
in Pittsburgh for the
Steel Strike.
—–

By LEE J. SMITS.
N. E. A. Staff Correspondent.

GSS Mother Jones, WVgn p1, Sept 18, 1919

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Sept. 18.-The chief of police in a steel town said: “I’d rather see a mob of armed strikers marching down Main street than have that old lady arrive on the scene.”

He meant Mother Jones.

From mine fields of West Virginia and Colorado; from every field where labor and capital have battled, come the tales of this white-haired warrior, who has been in jail more times than she can remember, who is called a demon by her foes and an angel by her friends.

She says she is 89 years old, but her voice rings out like a bugle call and she expects to see labor triumphant, not only in the steel strike, but in every industry in the United States.

“I came here to raise hell,” said Mother Jones, as she looked up from her sewing to welcome me.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Steel Strike Begins Monday; Mother Jones Back in Pittsburgh: “I CAME HERE TO RAISE HELL!”” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Cleveland to Delegates of Convention of United Mine Workers of America, Part III

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, UMWA Until We Win, Clv UMWC p618, Sept 17, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday September 19, 1919
Cleveland, Ohio – Mother Jones Speaks at U. M. W. A. Convention, Part III

Mother Jones addressed the convention once again during the afternoon of Wednesday September 17th, the seventh day of the convention. She urged the miners to unite behind the steel workers in their upcoming battle against the Steel Trust:

I beg of you for the sake of the heroes that are going to break into the war Monday [September 22nd] for a better civilization, to bury the hatchet and come together, regardless of what may happen. Let the enemy see that we are a solidified army and ready for the war if they want it.

From Stenographic Report by Mary Burke East:

ADDRESS OF MOTHER JONES.

Mother Jones Crpd Women in Industry, Eve Ns Hburg PA p2, Jan 6, 1919

Now, boys, I have got to go; I am called away. I don’t know whether it will ever be my privilege to attend another of your conventions. The battle of ages is on; we have got to fight it and it has got to be won. In an hour or so I will leave for the steel strike in Pittsburgh. I have no doubt the bonds of those poor steel workers will be broken before we end. It has been a long struggle, but it is going to come to an end.

Now, I am going to say a few words to you, and I want you to pay attention to what I say. Don’t forget the men and women who gave up their lives for this movement in Utah, Colorado, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. This movement was founded on the blood of men who tramped the weary pathway at night, often hungry and cold, to carry the message of a better day to you. Some of you remember the awful day at McCray’s School House, when you walked forty miles, hungry and worn out, to attend that meeting. The fact of your meeting here today is due to the work of those men who are in their graves.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Cleveland to Delegates of Convention of United Mine Workers of America, Part III” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Cleveland to Delegates of Convention of United Mine Workers of America, Part II

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Judge Gary Cup of Rice, Clv UMWC p540, Sept 16, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 18, 1919
Cleveland, Ohio – Mother Jones Speaks at U. M. W. A. Convention, Part II

From Stenographic Report by Mary Burke East
-September 16th speech of Mother Jones continued:

Mother Jones Crpd Women in Industry, Eve Ns Hburg PA p2, Jan 6, 1919

In Homestead the labor men were allowed to speak for the first time in 28 years. We were arrested the first day. When I got up to speak I was taken. Eight or ten thousand labor men followed me to the jail. They all marched there. When we went into the jail they remained outside. One fellow began to cry and said: “What for you take Mudder Jones?” and they took him by the neck and shoved him behind the bars. That is all he did or said. We put up a bond of $15 each. We were to come for trial the next day, but the burgess didn’t appear. They postponed the trial on account of the mob that appeared outside. When they got me in jail the police themselves got scared to death. One of our men said: “Mother can handle those men.” He was told, “No, nobody can handle them.” “Yes, she can; let her get out.” I went out and said: “Boys, we live in America! Let us give three cheers for Uncle Sam and go home and let the companies go to hell!” And they did. Everybody went home, but they went down the street cheering. There was no trouble, nobody was hurt-they were law-abiding. They blew off steam and went home.

In Duquesne they took forty men. One man came out of a restaurant and asked what the trouble was. They got him by the back of the neck and put him behind the iron bars. He was kept there from two o’clock Monday afternoon until ten o’clock Sunday morning without a bite to eat or even a drink of water. That was the only crime the man had committed. Is there any kaiser who is more vicious than that? Do you think it is time for us to line up, man to man, and clean out those kaisers at home?

The steel workers have taken a strike vote and decided to strike. You men must stand behind them. Never mind what anybody says, that strike will come off next Monday. The miners and all the other working men of the nation must stand with them in that strike, because it is the crucial test of the labor movement of America. You are the basic industry. They didn’t win the war with generals, and the President didn’t win the war. They could have sent all the soldiers abroad, but if you hadn’t dug the coal to furnish the materials to fight with, what could they have done? You miners at home won the war digging coal. You have been able to clean up the kaisers abroad, now join with us and clean up the kaisers at home.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Cleveland to Delegates of Convention of United Mine Workers of America, Part II” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Cleveland to Delegates of Convention of United Mine Workers of America, Part I

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Strikes are not peace Clv UMWC p537, Sept 16, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday September 17, 1919
Cleveland, Ohio – Mother Jones Speaks at U. M. W. A. Convention, Part I

During the afternoon session of the sixth day of the Convention, Tuesday, September 16th, Mother Jones was introduced by Acting President John L. Lewis. The entire delegation arose to applaud Mother Jones as she was escorted to the platform.

From Stenographic Report by Mary Burke East:

Mother Jones Crpd Women in Industry, Eve Ns Hburg PA p2, Jan 6, 1919

Acting President Lewis: The chair will ask the delegates who are seated on either side of Mother Jones to escort her to the platform.

The entire delegation arose and applauded as Mother Jones was escorted to the platform.

Acting President Lewis:…This is one great assemblage of men where Mother Jones needs no introduction. She comes today from somewhere, I know not where, but from wherever she hails we know she has been on an errand of assistance and mercy to the down-trodden toilers, and she merely stops for a moment to come into her own union, there to greet her own boys. Her life has been devoted to the cause for which she has given her years and her wisdom and her ability. She has come to be loved by every man who has ever attended our conventions and by all the mine workers of the United States. We claim her as our own.

ADDRESS OF MOTHER JONES.

I didn’t come into the convention this afternoon to speak, but they took me by surprise—like the police did. I am not going to take up much of your time. There has been too much time spent in oratory. For the last four weeks I have been with the steel workers. If you want to see brutal autocracy, come with me to the steel centers and I will show it to you. The world does not dream of the conditions that exist there.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks in Cleveland to Delegates of Convention of United Mine Workers of America, Part I” →

WE NEVER FORGET: Fannie Sellins & Joe Starzeleski, Shot Down by Gunthugs, August 26, 1919, at West Natrona, PA

Janet RayeFannie Sellins
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Pray for dead, Ab Chp 6, 1925———-

WNF Fannie Sellins n Joe Starzeleski, West Natrona PA, August 26, 1919———-

WE NEVER FORGET
Fannie Sellins & Joe Starzeleski
Who Lost Their Lives in Freedom’s Cause
August 26, 1919 at West Natrona, Pennsylvania

From The Woman Today of September 1936:

Fannie Sellins

-by Lillian Henry

WNF Sellins Starzeleski Monument, The Woman Today p9, Sept 1936

Gold flows down the Alleghany [Allegheny] and Monongahela Rivers and up the Ohio river to coffers in tall buildings in downtown Pittsburgh. There is a steady stream from the coal mines and steel mills-from the coal mines and the steel mills-from the plants of Jones and Laughlin, Bethlehem Steel, Carnegie, U. S. Steel, Alleghany Steel, Alleghany Valley Coal. These and many other sources fill the banks and strong boxes in Pittsburgh.

Blood has flowed along these rivers-shed at the command of the owners of the strong boxes in tall buildings, and one of their victims was Fannie Sellins, mother of four children.

Fannie Sellins’ grave stands in New Kensington on the Alleghany River. The tombstone, erected by the United Mine Workers of District No. 5, stands as a monument to those “killed by the enemies of organized labor”.

We went to see Fannie Sellins’ daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Broad, to learn about the life of this heroic woman.

[Said the former
Dorothy Sellins:]

My father died when I was two years old, and mother went to work in a garment factory in St. Louis to support her four children. We all come from the South.

Grandfather was a painter-had a regular job painting Mississippi River boats. He used to take mother and the children around to union meetings. I’ve heard union talk ever since I was a baby.

Mother worked hard to organize, not only the men, but also their women. She used to go around to the women to tell them how important it was for them to organize. She was jailed for six months in West Virginia for doing that.

Continue reading “WE NEVER FORGET: Fannie Sellins & Joe Starzeleski, Shot Down by Gunthugs, August 26, 1919, at West Natrona, PA” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Arrested in Homestead Along With Three Organizers of A. F. L. Steel Committee

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Fight for Flag Apr 8, Rockford IL Morn Str p4, Apr 9, 1919———-

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
—–
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).

Mother Jones Crpd Women in Industry, Eve Ns Hburg PA p2, Jan 6, 1919

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.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Arrested in Homestead Along With Three Organizers of A. F. L. Steel Committee” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks to 3,000 Steel Workers on Southside of Pittsburgh, Derides Company “Spotters”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Kaisers here at home, Peoria IL Apr 6, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday August 17, 1919
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Speaks to Steel Workers

From The Pittsburgh Post of August 15, 1919:

3,000 CHEER “MOTHER” JONES ON SOUTHSIDE
—–
Steel Workers Crowd Hall at Organization Meeting.
—–

Mother Jones Crpd Women in Industry, Eve Ns Hburg PA p2, Jan 6, 1919

More than 3,000 Southside iron and steel workers crowded the Falcon hall on South eighteenth street, last night, in a meeting held for the purpose of organizing the employee of the South side steel mills. There was no disorder and four patrolmen detailed from the South Thirteenth street police station had no trouble handling the crowd.

“Mother” Jones, the principal speaker of the evening was applauded lustily when she made her appearance at the hall, accompanied by J. G. Brown, general organizer of the American Federation of Labor, and John Weirencki, local organizer, who were the other speakers.

In her address “Mother” Jones derided the “spotters” who she said, were in attendance at the meeting. She told of her experiences at the miners’ strike in Fairmont, W. Va., a year ago and of being jailed for her utterances.

Following her speech, J. G. Brown, who acted as chairman of the meeting said that if a blacklist was made by any of the companies, of the names of the employes who attended last night’s meeting, and it resulted in the discharging of any of the men, the American Federation of Labor would see to it that they were reinstated with pay for the time they lost.

Weirencki addressed the meeting, which was attended largely by foreigners, in their native tongue, urging the men to join the American Federation of Labor. It was announced that permanent headquarters will be opened by the organization committee [National Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers] of the American Federation of Labor at 86 South Eighteenth street.

———-

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks to 3,000 Steel Workers on Southside of Pittsburgh, Derides Company “Spotters”” →

Hellraisers Journal: From Labor World: Leaders of National Committee Jailed for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
Share

Quote Mother Jones, Kaisers here at home, Peoria IL Apr 6, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday August 12, 1919
North Clairton, Pennsylvania – Iron and Steel Organizers Arrested

From the Duluth Labor World of August 9, 1919:

GSS HDLN Steel Organizers to Jail, LW p1, Aug 9, 1919

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 7.-When President Samuel Gompers and other officers and organizers at the Atlantic City convention all arose and pledged themselves to go to jail if necessary to unionize the iron and steel workers of the country they evidently were fully aware of the extremes to which the steel barons would go to prevent their men from organizing.

Last Sunday [Aug. 3rd], the first arrests were made at North Clairton, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Secretary Foster [Secretary of the National Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers] and several other organizes were thrown into jail and a union meeting held on a private lot, the owner of which presided at the meeting, was broken up.

Steel Men Swarm Into Unions.

The struggle to secure the rights of free speech and free assembly in this section of Pennsylvania has been unending and discouraging. Yet the committee appointed by President Gompers to organize the iron and steel workers has made some progress, for in spite of the many arrests that have been made and the other harassing tactics that have been resorted to good progress is being made. For the first time in years union meetings are permitted in McKeesport, Rankin, Braddock and Homestead. In all of these places meetings have been held and men are swarming into the unions by the thousands.

But, surrounding Pittsburgh are boroughs and boroughs. Nearly all are important steel centers and all are bad. Some are worse than others. The worst one so far discovered is North Clairton.

North Clairton is a typical one-man steel town. It is a place where the steel trust has always had its own sweet, unhampered, autocratic way. The casual visitor to the Pittsburgh section would not likely ever hear of North Clairton. Yet, within its tyrannical borders, some 4,000 steel workers live out their miserable existences working in 10 and 14-hour shifts with its crushing, killing 24-four shifts at the weekly changes. The national committee could not ignore the plea for organization on the part of these enslaved human beings.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From Labor World: Leaders of National Committee Jailed for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers” →