Hellraisers Journal: Part III: “Mother Jones & Her Methods -Personality & Power of This Aged Woman”-Boston Sunday Herald

15th September 202424th September 2024 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Plea for Justice, Not Charity, Quote Mother Jones —————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 15, 1904
Part III of III: “Mother Jones & Her Methods”-Shines Among Workers

From the Boston Sunday Herald of September 11, 1904:

[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 1904

“MOTHER” JONES’ CONDUCT WITH FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
—————

She Shines Among the Workers.
—

The mother nature which is so strong in this remarkable woman as to have given her her beautiful soubriquet is not revealed among the ordinary surroundings which come to her during her brief sojourns in Chicago, New York or Washington, but is at once ready to shine forth when she is among the workers whom she calls her children-the girls of the silk mills, the men in the coal fields, or in the humble homes among the mothers and children.

In the strike of 1900 in Pennsylvania she started out one evening from Hazleton to go to Macadoo [McAdoo], to address a local union of miners. On the electric car she sat by the writer quietly observant of the other passengers. No one was as yet aware of her personality. Looking across at a young man and young woman who were sitting closely together, comparing two much thumbed note books with their heads quite close together, Mrs. Jones said: “Look at the dear children; they are comparing their savings. They are lovers, wondering how long it may be before they will be able to marry.”

There was a smile of tenderness on her face which did not wane when at transfer station some noisy youngsters outside discovered her and set up a cry of “Mother Jones! Mother Jones!”

“That’s so, children,” she said, standing up and leaning out of the window to them. “This is old ‘Mother’ Jones going to talk to your fathers and mothers. Are you union boys and girls?”

“You bet we are; hurrah for Mother Jones! Hurrah for Mother Jones!”

The youngsters kept pace with the car, and when the old lady stepped off they made her an escort as she walked to the hall, crowding and pushing to get close to her, to touch her dress, to hold her hand, to look up into her face and to shout the tidings that she was coming. When she reached the hall it was filled with men, who respectfully made way for her, and she passed among them to the platform.

After talking to them for a short time about the progress of the strike, and about a particularly obstinate body of workers at the Coleraine colliery, she told them that she had a plan, and asked them to clear the hall and send the women of their families to her. The men immediately yielded to her suggestion without understanding her intention, for she had worked so long among them as an organizer that they had faith in her judgment.

In about half an hour a strange audience had assembled. there were old, bent women of 70 and young, fresh-faced girls of 16. There were young matrons with babes in their arms, and women faded before their time. The faces that looked up from the rude benches of the strikers’ hall were at first only curious, or somewhat shy and embarrassed.

Walking to the edge of the platform “Mother” Jones stretched out her arms to them, and in her thrillingly sweet voice said, “Sisters!” A perceptible wave of emotion like the breath of wind sweeping the long grasses of downs and meadows passed over her audience. Still the women waited, wondered, watched.

“In the old revolutionary days,” said “Mother” Jones, “your mothers were heroes, as well as your fathers.”

The faces awoke; the souls back of them kindled. For an hour the speaker walked to and fro telling the deeds of mothers of the past, of sisters and wives. The listeners drew nearer. They leaned their elbows on the platform and lifted their faces to drink in her words. Their bosoms heaved and the tears rolled unheeded down their cheeks, but quickly the smiles flashed out again at the will of the speaker. She was explaining to them a plan to march by night through the mountains to surprise at dawn the body of workmen who had refused to strike, and by soft words and cajoleries to woo them to make common cause with their fellows. For who would stop a body of women carrying flags and singing.

“To Colerain-ah!” they whispered among themselves, and then broke out tumultuously: “We’ll go; yes, tonight; to win the boys of Colerain.” Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Part III: “Mother Jones & Her Methods -Personality & Power of This Aged Woman”-Boston Sunday Herald” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks at Convention of United Mine Workers: We must learn to bear each other’s burdens.

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Quote Mother Jones, Love Each Other, UMWC Ipl IN, Jan 25, 1901 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday January 29, 1901
Indianapolis, Indiana – Mother Jones Speaks to Miners, Part II

January 25, 1901-Convention of United Mine Workers of America:

In New York they are going to give a charity ball. I suppose it is a kind of restitution to the people they have been robbing for years. They will spend thousands and thousands of dollars for decorating their old carcasses, and they go into a hall and admire one another; and if we were to sit up in the gallery and venture to look at them they would wonder what such a lot of Wops wanted in the world anyhow. Then some smart newspaper man will take his gilt pen and sit down and write of the beautiful Mr. So and So who was there, and of the beautiful Mrs. So and So who was there, and how they were dressed, and how splendid it all was.

Splendid! Yes, my friends, but they are dancing on the minds and hearts of the men and women they have robbed, dancing on the hearts of the little children who are working in their factories and of the boys and girls working everywhere.

In Freeland [Pennsylvania] I held a meeting for the boys and girls from the silk mills. They were on a strike and one morning they tried to keep the scab children from working. The children went into the factory to work, and the poor little outside ones entered a protest and called them “Blackleg,” and “scab,” and a burly policeman took one girl by the hair of the head and dragged her to the police station and she was put under three hundred dollars bond. The bond was furnished and they took her home, but the fright and ill treatment had made her ill, and she had three hemorrhages of the lungs. There was not a dollar in the house to get food or medicine or a doctor for her. Think of that.

When the children stood on the platform of a hall we had hired for them to expose the corporations one little boy of twelve came to the front and told us that he worked thirteen hours at night, that they paid him one cent an hour; but that these same people had gone to the church and put in a magniﬁcent stained glass window in it. Did you ever hear a minister say one word about the condition of these children? We did not ﬁnd one minister to defend these children.

In the Scriptures they can see where the Master said, “Suffer little children to come unto me.” My friends, I believe we should clasp our hands and come out together in defense of these little children. I can see an appeal in their eyes which seems to ask what they have done that they should be battered and knocked about as they are. There are children under age in those factories.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for November 1900, Part I: Found with Miners of Pennsylvania and with Socialist of Boston

17th December 202018th December 2020 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday December 17, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for November 1900, Part I
Found Celebrating Victory with Pennsylvania’s Anthracite Miners

From Pennsylvania’s Allentown Morning Call of November 1, 1900:

HAZLETON, Oct. 31.-All the collieries in the Hazleton district, with the exception of those of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Milnesville and Derringer, are in operation to-day. The Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Company is ready to resume at once but as to-morrow is a Catholic holiday which is observed generally by Catholics, it is not likely that resumption will begin until Friday. All hands are satisfied and practically a full force of men will report for duty. Derringer is idle because of the inauguration of another strike on account of minor grievances, but it is expected that the colliery will be in operation as usual tomorrow…..

BIG MEETING AT M’ADOO.

The mine workers of the entire South Side held a parade and a big mass meeting at McAdoo to-night. Several visiting mine workers’ locals participated. Addresses were delivered by President Mitchell, George Purcell, John Fahey, “Mother” Jones and others. This was the greatest jollification meeting ever conducted on the south Side. President Mitchell was the first speaker. He concluded in time to make the 9.05 train leaving Hazleton for Mauch Chunk and points west.

MEETING AT LEADER’S GRAVE.

A monster mass meeting of miners will be held at the grave of John Siney, the great labor leader, at St. Clair on Saturday. President Mitchell and members of the national board will speak……

[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for October 1900, Part V: Found Declaring Victory at Panther Creek; Grand March Closed Mines

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Quote Mother Jones, Miners More Powerful Than Ever, Phl Tx p5, Oct 18, 1900 ———

Hellraisers Journal – Friday November 30, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1900, Part V
Found Declaring Victory in Grand March on Panther Creek

From the Philadelphia Times of October 18, 1900:

THE MINE WORKERS STRONGER THAN EVER
———-

(Written for Th Times by “Mother” Jones.)

Hazleton, October 17.

Our victory in closing the mines in Panther Creek, which have been working steadily for years and which have never ceased to operate during a strike, shows that the United Miners to-day are more powerful than ever and perfectly able to continue the struggle for mouths. The only possible solution of the strike is for the mine operators to make the small concessions asked.

There is no reason in the world why they should not do so, because coal is bringing higher prices to-day than ever before. Railroad rails are cheaper than they have been in years, making the profits of the operators double what they have been. Yet the mine workers have received no increase in pay nor benefit from this increased prosperity whatsoever. This means that the hard coal [anthracite] trust is getting richer every day while the workers are getting poorer. How the operators can refuse the concessions I cannot see.

Mary Jones.

———-

[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for October 1900, Part IV: Found Marching to Panther Creek with Army of Strong Mining Women

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Quote Mother Jones, Army Strong Mining Women, Ab 1925 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday November 29, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1900, Part IV
Found with Strikers and Army of Mining Women Marching on Panther Creek

From the Hazleton Plain Speaker of October 16, 1900:

The four thousand strikers from Hazleton, Freeland and the South Side who left McAdoo at midnight last night to close down the collieries of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. in the Panther Creek Valley, where operations have been carried on without interruption since the beginning of the strike, did not get at the mines but Nesquehoning was rendered idle and all the other collieries are somewhat crippled. The strikers were met on the outskirts of Coal Dale, which was their first objective point, by eight companies of the Fourth Regiment in command of Colonel O’Neill, of Allentown, and driven back into Tamaqua and the strikers who paraded the streets of that town were dispersed at the point of bayonet. The presence of the soldiers was a complete surprise to the marchers. Many of the latter returned home at noon today while others remained and will use their persuasive powers tonight to induce the men who are at work to join the strike movement. Several of the strikers were arrested.

The March Begins.

The strikers collected at McAdoo. Large crowds were seen wending their way over the hills to the South Side and when the word was passed along the line to move on it is estimated that there were about 3,500 men in the ranks.

The strikers from the upper Schuylkill region were to have met the McAdoo people at Hometown, but when the South Siders got there they were disappointed, as not a striker from upper Schuylkill was to be seen.

A delegation of about five hundred, comprising the strikers from Hazleton and the North Side, moved over the Beaver Meadow road and joined the South Siders at Hometown, a small place some distance north of Tamaqua. From Hometown the strikers marched about four abreast to the outskirts of Coal Dale.

“Mother” Jones There.

There were a number of women in line, among them “Mother” Jones and Miss Brennan, of McAdoo, who carried an American flag and who was to have led the men to the Coal Dale collieries.

The Honey Brook band and several drum corps were also in line. The band played almost continuously from the time the men left McAdoo until they got within a half mile of Coal Dale. The music had a wonderfully inspiring effect on the men and aroused people every where along the route.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for October 1900, Part III: Found Marching from McAdoo to Beaver Meadows and Hazleton

21st November 202021st November 2020 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Brave Mining Women, Phl Tx p5, Oct 15, 1900 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday November 21, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1900, Part III
Mother Jones and Miners’ Army March from McAdoo to Hazleton

From the Hazleton Plain Speaker of October 11, 1900:

About six hundred strikers, composed of men from McAdoo and other South Side towns and the No. 3 Local of this city, gathered at McAdoo before dawn this morning, marched to the Beaver Meadow colliery of Coxe Bros. & Co., which had been kept in steady operation since the inauguration of the strike, then came around to Cuyle’s strippings east of the city and from the stripping marched right into the heart of Hazleton, the first time since the trouble began, that the town was invaded by marchers. The parade dispersed on North Wyoming street, this city, and the men returned to their homes.

Among those who participated in the march were “Mother” Jones, the well known lady organizer, and Miss Bertha Williams and Annie Petrosky, two pretty girls of about eighteen summers, whose homes are at McAdoo. It was feared, when the matchers reached Cuyle’s strippings that there would be trouble, but no violence was attempted. Many of the strikers were loud in their denunciation of the special policemen stationed near the place, but no disturbance occurred…..

[Paragraph break added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Organizing Mothers, Wives, Sisters and Daughters of Coal Miners

29th September 20201st September 2020 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Strikes Won by Women, Speech Dec 9, NY Cl p2, Dec 10, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 29, 1900
Hazleton District, Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Organizing Women in Strike Zone

From the Philadelphia Times of September 24, 1900:

UNION OF THE WOMEN NOW TO BE FORMED
——-
Mother Jones Tells the Plans to Organize the Wives and
Daughters of Coal Miners Into an Auxiliary Association.
——-

(Written for The Times by “Mother” Mary Jone, the famous woman Labor Leader.)

As I have remarked In THE TIMES before, the greatest force in this strike, besides the men themselves, is the women of the coal regions, and we now are going to organize this force so that it can be used to greater advantages. National Organizers Mederiel, Dilcher and myself have already gone to work in the matter, and women’s auxiliaries have been organized in McAdoo and elsewhere. This work will be continued until every mother, wife, sister and daughter of the miners are part of the union.

The encouragement thus given to the men will hold them together in such solidity that no one can break the ranks. The position taken by the women in this strike has aroused the union working women in all parts of the country, and, owing to this, offers of help are pouring in from unions in every State. This shows that the united labor of the country is behind the 132,000 men who are on strike, and how hopeless is the struggle of the operators to defeat our organizations.

(Signed) Mary Jones.

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Leads Army of Strikers’ Wives and Daughters to Coleraine and Beaver Meadows

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Quote Mother Jones, Ladies Women, NYT p3, May 23, 1914 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday September 27, 1900
Pennsylvania – Mother Jones Leads Army of Women from McAdoo to Coleraine

From The Philadelphia Inquirer of September 23, 1900:

Sketched on the Spot by an Inquirer Staff Artist.
—————

WOMEN FIRED TO FRENZY MARCH ON MINES AND HUGGING
THE WORKERS THEY FORCE THEM TO LEAVE THEIR POST
——-
Females Led by Mother Jones Form a Strange and
Remarkable Procession-Shouting and Waving
Their Arms They Dance to Martial Music

From a Staff Correspondent.

HAZLETON, PA., Sept. 22-Unless there is a speedy close down of the mines whose operators persist in keeping them running with armed protection, there s going to be trouble in this district. When it comes, the women will be at the bottom of it. In the early hours this morning they swooped down upon Coleraine and Beaver Meadows. They were led by Mother Jones. They marched with a band at their head, the men falling back in the rear. In the journey some of the party were girls, who gave way to the wildest abandon and danced and shouted, waving their arms in the air.

On arriving at Coleraine, emotional frenzy reached its limit. The men who on their way to work were seized, When cold argument failed some of the women threw their arms about the miners’ necks and exercised all their powers of pleading. Unable to resist the demonstrative actions of the women, the miners gave in, and consented to return to their homes.

Flushed with victory, the raiding party proceeded on to Beaver Meadow. There were about a hundred women in it, and male recruits had been picked up all along the road, so that the entire aggregation numbered five or six hundred. They reached Beaver Meadow too late for any demonstration with the miners, as they were in the colliery at work.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for July 1910, Part I: Found Speaking to Miners in Hazleton and Coleraine, Pennsylvania

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Quote Mother Jones, Brutal Ruling Class, Cnc Pst p7, May 31, 1910 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday August 13, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for July 1910, Part I:
-Found with Miners of Hazleton and Coleraine, Pennsylvania

From the Shenandoah Evening Herald of July 6, 1910:

Mother Jones Coming.

Mother Jones who led the McAdoo marchers in 1900 and who was stricken in a western city some months ago has partially recovered and is expected to arrive in Hazleton this week to spend several weeks, in the hope of regaining her former health and vigor.

———-

[Photograph added.]

From the Pottsville Republican of July 16, 1910:

Mother Jones at Hazleton.

“Mother” Jones, who took a leading part to two of the big miners’ strikes some years ago, arrived in Hazleton to remain for three or four days. She may make one or more addresses. She was recently stricken ill in Cincinnati, O., but has fully recovered.

———-

From the Shenandoah Evening Herald of July 19, 1910:

“Mother” Jones to Speak.

“Mother” Jones, who is at Hazleton for a week or ten days, will be the principal speaker at a big rally to be held at Coleraine on Thursday night.

From the Pittston Gazette of July 23, 1910:

Mother Jones at Coleraine.

Mother Jones, who came to this region over a week ago to recuperate her health, is rapidly gaining in strength and in a few weeks will have regained her former vigor and activity. Last night she addressed the miners at Coleraine and was given a rousing welcome, particularly by the breaker boys.-Hazleton Standard.

———-

Note: Emphasis added throughout.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for July 1910, Part I: Found Speaking to Miners in Hazleton and Coleraine, Pennsylvania” →