Hellraisers Journal – Monday July 26, 1920
Reward of $5,000 Offered for Apprehension of Slayer of Fannie Sellins
From The Pittsburgh Post of July 23, 1920:
Slayer of Woman In Riot Sought
—–
Reward Offered For Apprehension
of Guilty Person.
—–
Fannie Sellins in Marion County Jail at Fairmont, W. V. -from the Huntington Labor Star of May 29, 1914 ———-
A reward of $5,000, thought to be offered either by the United Mine Workers of America, or by Fred Broad of New Kensington, a son-in-law of the slain woman, will be paid for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the slayers of Fannie Sellins, labor organizer, who was killed in a mine strike riot near Brackenridge almost a year ago. The reward has been advertised in the local papers.
The circumstances surrounding the death of the woman leader was a subject for discussion at recent labor meetings in Montreal, and it is said that the campaign for a solution will be continued this summer.
Mrs. Sellins was shot down the night of August 26, 1919, during a riot between guards and strikers near the pit mouth of the Allegheny Coal and Coke Company at Brackenridge. The guards were arrested after the riot but they were released because of insufficient evidence. Since then there have been no new developments or arrests in the case.
[Note: there was no riot. Company gunthugs attacked picketers who were peacefully assembled, as was their right.]
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday October 30, 1919
Mother Jones News for September 1919, Part II
Cleveland, Ohio – Mother Speaks at Convention of United Mine Workers
From the New York Tribune of September 17, 1919:
Mine Workers Urged To Aid Steel Strike
—–
Appeals Made to Convention by Fitzpatrick
and “Mother” Jones, Who Oppose Delay
CLEVELAND, Sept. 16.-John Fitzpatrick, chairman of the national committee for organizing the iron and steel workers, and “Mother” Jones, the aged mine worker representative, appealed to-day to the convention of the United Mine Workers of America to support the steel workers in the projected steel strike. “Mother” Jones argued openly against any postponement, telling the miners to pay no attention to contrary reports, because the strike would come off as arranged next Monday. Rescinding of the strike call, she declared, would wreck the confidence of the steel workers in their organization.
Fitzpatrick refrained from mentioning the question of possible postponement, except indirectly, in his speech, but in conversations with delegates he declared himself firmly opposed to postponement of the walkout beyond Monday as weakening the chances of success.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
———-
———-
———-
———-