Tag: Socialist Party of Kansas

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks at Labor Day Celebration at Columbus, Kansas

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Stick Together, MI Mnrs Bltn p1, Aug 14, 1913—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday September 8, 1914
Columbus, Kansas – Mother Jones Speaks at Labor Day Celebration

From The Pittsburg Daily Headlight of September 7, 1914:

Mother Jones Coming to Seattle crpd, Stt Str p2, May 29, 1914Mother Jones at Columbus.

Columbus, Sept. 7-“Mother” Jones, the aged woman who has figured in the mine troubles of West Virginia and Colorado, and who has spent a large part of the past few years in military prisons and jails as a result of her activity among the miners, was the principal speaker at the Labor Day celebration in this city today. She spoke to an immense audience in the City park. L. F. Fuller of Girard, Socialist candidate for Congress, was the other speaker. It is estimated 5,000 persons came to Columbus to participate in the celebration today. There was a parade in the morning and outdoor exercises in the afternoon.

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Letter from Mother Jones Published in Iola, Kansas, Newspaper: “If Our Socialist Would Act More and Talk Less We Might Get Some Results.”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, WV Court Martial, No Plea to Make, Ptt Pst p3, Mar 8, 1913—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday May 25, 1913
Letter from Mother Jones Sent Out from West Virginia’s Military Bastile

From the Iola (Kansas) Co-Operator of May 24, 1913:

LETTER FROM MOTHER JONES
———-

Pratt, W. Va., May 1, 1913.
Military Bastile.

Lee J. Dock,
1502 N. Carson
San Antonio, Texas,

Dear Comrade:

Mother Jones, Cora Older, at Military Bastile WV, Colliers p26, Apr 1913

Your letter of the 8th reached me in due time but I was unable to answer it before owing to the fact that I was locked up in a military prison and had no chance to do any writing. Now that some of the militia has been taken away I am a little freer but still a prisoner.

I appreciate your letter very highly and wish I would have been able to reply to it earlier but owing to the fact that I was here under the militia and you know when the sewer rats are keeping guard on you day and night it is pretty hard to do as you would like to. We have had a hard fight of it here. It was the first time in history of industrial warfare in America, that we the workers, were pulled up and tried before a Military Court and it was a picture to look at. Those representatives of ancient warfare in the days of the Spanish inquisition never presented anything more brutal looking than that court did to me. It was a disgrace to America and every man in it.

There is not a man in America with any pride but what should blush with shame. Just think, a bunch of those guards dressed up as uniformed murderers, watching an old woman 80 year of age in the early dawn of the 20th century. I wonder what Victor Hugo would say if he were alive, how beautiful he would portray this great civilization. If our Socialists would act more and talk less we might get some results.

I wish you would call and see Dr. Zouck and give him my regards and tell him that I often think of him and that I have not forgotten him and never will, for he is a man, every inch of him, but I have been so rushed for the want of time that I have been unable get time to write him.

I hope some day soon to have the pleasure of seeing you in San Antonio, so good bye and believe me

Yours in the cause of Justice,
MOTHER JONES.
Per M. D.

[Photograph, paragraph break and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for May 1909: Found in Peoria, Illinois & Girard, Kansas

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

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday June 13, 1909
Mother Jones News Round-Up for May 1909:
-Found Arriving in Girard, Kansas, at End of May

Mother Jones w edit crpd ag, Dnv Rck Mt Ns p2, Feb 28, 1909

Throughout the month of May, we found Mother Jones within the pages of the Appeal to Reason where she was announced as a featured speaker, along with Eugene Debs, at the Kansas Socialist Women’s Conference scheduled for June 4th and 5th. The May 29th edition of the Appeal reported that:

Mother Jones reached Girard yesterday and says that unless she is obliged to return to Washington before the day set for our conference she will gladly assist.

Mother was also found May 19th speaking at the Switchmen’s convention held in Peoria, Illinois.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for December 1908; Found in Springfield, Illinois, Speaking to UMW Locals

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Spgfld IL Jr, Dec 20, 1908

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday January 12, 1909
-Mother Jones News Round-Up for December 1908
Found with Locals of U. M. W. in Springfield, Illinois

Mother Jones, Dnv Pst p2, July 19, 1908

During the month of December 1908, we found Mother Jones in Springfield, Illinois, where it was reported by the December 17th edition of the Illinois State Register that:

“Mother” Jones, a noted leader among the miners’ organization of the country, addressed the Springfield sub-district quarterly meeting [U. M. W.] at Arion hall yesterday afternoon [December 16th], and in consequence the meeting was very largely attended. “Mother” Jones is engaged in soliciting assistance for Mexican workingmen who are engaged in a struggle against the despotism of the Mexican government, and who, when their plans became apparent to that government escaped to the United States, their extradition now being sought. The efforts of “Mother” Jones has the endorsement of the Illinois executive board of the United Mine Workers of America [John H. Walker, President], and it is her intention to make a tour of the state visiting the miners’ locals in behalf of these men.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for November 1908, Found in Kansas and in Chicago

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones re Vote SPA, Coffeyvl KS Dly Jr p6, Nov 2, 1908

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Hellraisers Journal – Monday December 14, 1908
-Mother Jones News Round-Up for November 1908
Found in Kansas: “Pioneer Socialist woman in the revolutionary movement…”

Mother Jones, Dnv Pst p2, July 19, 1908

During the early days of November, we found Mother Jones* assisting the Kansas Comrades to wind up the 1908 election campaign on behalf of the Socialist Party. The Coffeyville Daily Journal described her speech in Coffeyville:

One of the most powerful Socialist lectures ever delivered in Coffeyville was given in the Coliseum Saturday night. “Mother Jones,” the pioneer Socialist woman in the revolutionary movement, was the orator. A large number of people were out to hear the speech on economics, despite the counter attractions.

“Mother” Jones has been trying to improve the industrial conditions of the working class for nearly four decades. She has particularly devoted her energies along the line of unionism. For nearly a score of years before the Socialists put out a ticket in this country she was going from coast to coast talking unionism to the wage workers. This she is still doing but her scope of work is now much larger than before she embraced international scientific Socialism. She is not only assisting in liberating those who work for wages but she is equally intent on emancipating the entire human race.

The Appeal to Reason credited her contribution:

Mother Jones lined up a great crowd of miners at Weir and Chicopee.

In Parsons:

“Mother” Jones, noted Socialist, spoke to a good sized audience at Edward’s opera house on Sunday afternoon [November 1st].

By November 20th, we found Mother back in Chicago where Clarence S. Darrow and Peter Sissman were part of the legal team engaged in a desperate fight to prevent the Russian Government from extraditing Christian Rudowitz, Russian revolutionist. Describing the court scene, the New York Sun stated:

Mother Jones and several other Socialists were also there.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for October 1908, Found in Kansas and Missouri

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Quote Mother Jones re Child Labor in AL, AtR p2, Oct 24, 1908
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 9, 1908
-Mother Jones News Round-Up for October 1908
Found in Kansas: “working with her sleeves rolled up…”

Other than a brief appearance in St. Louis, Missouri, at a campaign event for Eugene Debs, Mother Jones was found, during the month of October, mostly in the Girard area of Kansas campaigning for the Socialist candidates of the Third District. The Kansas Edition of the Appeal described her activities there as “working with her sleeves rolled up.”

From the Appeal to Reason of October 31, 1908:

Kansas Special Edition, AtR p3, Oct 17, 1908

[…..]

MOTHER JONES MEETINGS.

Mother Jones, Dnv Pst p2, July 19, 1908

Mother Jones is in the third district. She is working with her sleeves rolled up and is going after the democrats and republicans in her usual way showing them both to be the tools of an exploiting class. At Galena the opera house was full and a good spirit prevailed; but the meeting at Scammon was great. Mother was in her element, having a hall crowded to the doors with miners, and you may be sure that she delivered the right kind of goods and the democrats that thought that the party for which he works, stands for labor, was disillusioned by the recital of the terrible conditions in democratic Alabama. Mother is to spend the time in the mining and industrial centers until after election and expects to see Ben Wilson come in under the wire a winner.

———-

[Photograph of Mother Jones added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Appeal to Reason: The Red Special Rolls on from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Salt Lake City

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Quote EVD re Red Special, AtR p2, Sept 19, 1908
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Hellraisers Journal – Saturday September 26, 1908
The Socialist Red Special Rolls On Across the Great Plains

Eugene V Debs, EVD, Girard Prs p8, May 21, 1908

The journey of the Red Special across the American Great Plains is well documented in the following article from the Appeal to Reason. An inspiring message from Comrade Debs describes the thousands of cheering supporters who greeted the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate in Colorado. As an added bonus, in this same edition of the Appeal, we find Comrade Haywood speaking in Enid, Oklahoma, and preparing for a tour of the great state of Kansas.

From the Appeal to Reason of September 19, 1908:

EVD Red Special, On To Coast, AtR p2, Sept 19, 1908

—–

From Debs.

DEAR APPEAL: The meeting at Denver last night can’t be described. The great Coliseum was packed and jammed and the surrounding streets filled with cheering, shouting Socialists. The scene can never be forgotten. Thousands could not get near the speakers. Have just left Colorado Springs, where we had a splendid meeting, notwithstanding the crowd, through a misunderstanding, was at the wrong depot. Five minutes after arrival at any station the “Red Special” has a crowd. We are thoroughly organized and take full advantage of every minute. We are ready to drop off at a minute’s notice and make a speech of half a minute to a hundred people, or two hours to twenty thousand people.

We are now up in the mountains and from far up the rock-ribbed sides of the Rockies can be seen the fluttering handkerchiefs of the Socialist miners and prospectors and their wives from the cabin doors and windows. It is great, thrilling, inspiring.

Marvelous transformation! The miracle is working out all around us and before our very eyes, and the Socialists seem to spring from the soil to join in the exultation. These grand old mountains all about us are smiling their benediction upon us and the green-plumed pines along our iron highway seem to sway in gladness and join in the applause.-E. V. DEBS.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for April 1908-Found on Tour in Texas, Speaking for Socialist Party

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Palaces and Jails, AtR, Feb 29, 1908

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Hellraisers Journal, Sunday May 10, 1908
-Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1908
–Found in Texas on Tour for the Socialist Party of America

From the Appeal to Reason of April 4, 1908:

Tri-State Edition, AtR p3, Apr 4, 1908

[…..]

Texas SP Speaker Dates, AtR p3, Apr 4, 1908

[…]

Mother Jones-Tyler, April 2-8; Chandler, 10; Brownsboro, 11; Athens, 13…

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for March 1908-Found in Kansas & Texas, Speaking for Socialist Party

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Palaces and Jails, AtR, Feb 29, 1908

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Sunday April 12, 1908
-Mother Jones News Round-Up for March 1908
–Found in Kansas and Texas on Tour for S. P. of A.

From Proletarec of March 3, 1908
-Slovenian Language Socialist Newspaper:

Vi delavci gradite palače in ječe. Bogati postopači stanujejo v prvih, a v zadnje potisnejo vas. — Mother Jones.

From The Chicago Daily Tribune of March 3, 1908:

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

Here we find Mother Jones and Lucy Parsons connected by Chicago Chief of Police Shippy to the recent attempt on his life. The Chief blames the speeches of Mother Jones, Lucy Parsons and, apparently, even the settlement workers of Hull House and Graham Taylor of Chicago Commons, for the attempted assassination upon him by the alleged anarchist, Lazarus (Harry) Averbuch. Averbuch was killed by the Police Chief during the attack.

Mischief Done by Anarchist Speakers.

The situation which developed into the tragedy of yesterday was thus discussed by the chief:

“A number of attacks were made on the police at the Brand’s hall meeting [a few days previous to the assault]. Several of the speakers might just as well have told their deluded hearers to go out and murder every policeman they saw. That was what one of the speakers said he wished he could do-go out and kill every policeman and throw their bodies in the lake to the fish. Lucy Parsons spoke at this meeting, attacking the police bitterly.

“A few nights after this meeting Mother Jones, who was one of those who denounced the police at Brand’s hall, spoke at Hull house and Lucy Parsons was in the audience.

The social settlements,” continued the chief, gravely, “are first cousins to the anarchists. Graham Taylor, who spoke recently before the Association of Commerce, denounced the police as the most corrupt body of men. This kind of talk is what leads to assassination.”

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for February 1908-Part 2, Found at Girard, Kansas, at Third District Convention of Socialists

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Palaces and Jails, AtR, Feb 29, 1908

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday March 9, 1908
-Mother Jones News Round-Up for February 1908, Part 2:
–Found Speaking at Girard, Kansas, at Socialist District Convention

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

After February 19th, Mother Jones was found in the state of Kansas where she gave speeches in her usual rousing style on behalf of the Socialist Party. She was a special guest of the Appeal to Reason in Girard where she attended the Third District Convention and gave a speech which “aroused the audience to the wildest enthusiasm.”

The Dallas Morning News reported on February 28th that Mother had entered the state of Texas and was engaged to speak in Longview and in Dallas.

From the Appeal to Reason of February 29, 1908:

A GALA DAY FOR SOCIALISM
—–
The Third District Convention Stirs Things up in Girard
-Old Party Politicians Puzzled and Worried.
—–

Last Saturday, in the Girard court house, delegates from the Third district of Kansas met in convention and placed in nomination for congress Comrade Ben Wilson. Under the new primary law this nomination is merely an informal expression of the party’s desire and his name will necessarily have to be voted on at the regular primary in August. In the meantime a vigorous campaign will be carried on.

There were seventy-six regular delegates present, representing nearly every county in the district. There were several hundred out-of-town visitors at both afternoon and evening sessions, and the court house was crowded to the doors. Two years ago there were eleven delegates at our congressional convention in Parsons. The old party politicians viewed the assemblage with surprised wonder. They’ll be more surprised this fall.

The feature of the night session was a stirring address by Mother Jones. As usual, her clear, resonant voice, her earnest face, in its frame of silver hair, aroused the audience to the wildest enthusiasm. The air seemed electrified with the spirit of the revolution. Turning suddenly, as she pointed to Ben Wilson, she declared:

I’m coming back to the Third district this summer and fall and I’m going to help you fellows elect the first Socialist congressman. Then I’m going down to Washington, and when Ben and I get there you’ll see something doing.

—–

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