Tag: United Mine Workers of America

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for March 1920, Part II: Found Conferring with Labor Leaders in Denver, Colorado

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

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday May 8, 1920
-Mother Jones News for March 1920, Part II
Found in Denver Conferring with Local Labor Leaders

From The Denver Post of March 27, 1920:

3 MINES EXTEND CONTRACTS
UNTIL AGREEMENT COMES
—–
“Mother” Jones on Way to Denver
to Speak to Laboring Men.
—–

Mother Jones, Crpd Lg, Chg Tb p120, Oct 26, 1919

A temporary extension of the contract with the United Mine Workers of America until contracts have been signed in the central competitive district has been announced by officers of the International Fuel company operating the Evans mine at Evans; the Natural, near Louisville; and the National mine in Routt county.

These three mines employ about 300 men. Final action on the renewal of the contract will not be taken until conditions have been agreed upon in the central competitive field.

President John McLennan of District 15, United Mine Workers of America, has returned from Utah. Retiring President John Nigro, who has been in Denver for several days, and Vice President “Mike” Livoda returned to Pueblo Saturday. No decision has been reached yet whether a suspension of work will follow the refusal of many of the operators to renew or extend union contracts April 1.

“Mother” Jones, now en route from San Francisco to the east, will arrive in Denver at 8:20 o’clock Saturday night via the Denver & Rio Grande according to a telegram received by Secretary Edward Anderson of the State Federation of Labor. Arrangements probably will be made for a meeting at which she will be principal speaker. Labor leaders are without information as to the probable length of her visit in Denver.

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for March 1920, Part I: Found Supporting Shipyard Strikers of San Francisco and Vicinity

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Home Good Fight Going On, Ptt Prs p17, Sept 24, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 7, 1920
-Mother Jones News for March 1920, Part I
Found Supporting Shipyard Strikers of San Francisco and Vicinity

From The Los Angeles Times of March 11, 1920:

Mother Jones Seeks Shipyard, LA Tx p23, Mar 11, 1920———-

Mother Jones, Crpd Lg, Chg Tb p120, Oct 26, 1919

“Mother”‘ Jones, one of the most widely known union labor agitator in the world, who has been resting in this city for the last week, will leave today for Oakland to lend her support to the shipyard strikers in the Bay cities, according to information given out yesterday at the oil workers headquarters, room 111, Central Labor Temple.

The aged agitator last night stated that she did not know whether she was going to Oakland today or not, and intimated that it was none of the newspaper’s business what she was going to do. But at the home of Frank Flaherty, 2759 Marengo street, where “Mother” is staying, it was announced that she would leave tonight.

A telegram also was sent to V. C. Doaslaugh, secretary of the Alameda county Metals Trade Council, yesterday, in which it was stated that “Mother” Jones would arrive there Friday. The message was signed by C. B. Harvey, vice-president of the local Oil Workers’ Union.

“Mother” Jones came to Los Angeles to recuperate from a nervous breakdown, it was said at the Central Labor Temple, yesterday. The elderly woman participated in the recent fiasco of the Pennsylvania Steel workers, and report indicate that the collapse of that strike brought on an attack of “nerves” which caused her to retire to this city.

During her stay in this city, “Mother” Jones has had only one opportunity to talk. Last Sunday [March 7th] she addressed a few union laborites at the Labor Temple.

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WE NEVER FORGET the Men, Women and Little Children Who Lost Their Lives in Freedom’s Cause at Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Pray for dead, ed, Ab Chp 6, 1925———-

WE NEVER FORGET WNF List of Ludlow Martyrs ed———

Sept 15, 1913 – Trinidad, Colorado
Convention of District 15 of the United Mine Workers of America

The delegates opened their convention by singing The Battle Cry of Union:

We will win the fight today, boys,
We’ll win the fight today,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union;
We will rally from the coal mines,
We’ll fight them to the end,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union.

The Union forever, hurrah boys, hurrah!
Down with the Baldwins and up with the law;
For we’re coming, Colorado, we’re coming all the way,
Shouting the Battle Cry of Union.

The miners faced the grim prospect of going out on strike against the powerful southern coalfield companies, chief among them, John D Rockefeller’s Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. The coal operators had steadfastly refused to recognize the Union and had ignored all attempts at negotiation.

The miners had had their fill of dangerous working conditions, crooked checkweighmen, long hours, and low pay. They lived in peonage in company towns, were paid in company scrip, and were forced to shop for their daily needs in high-priced company stores which kept them always in debt. But, mostly they hated the notorious company guard system. Every attempt to organize had been met with brutality on the part of the coal operators.

Mother Jones addressed the convention for over an hour, urging the men to:

Rise up and strike! …Strike and stay with it as we did in West Virginia. We are going to stay here in Southern Colorado until the banner of industrial freedom floats over every coal mine. We are going to stand together and never surrender…

Pledge to yourselves in this convention to stand as one solid army against the foes of human labor. Think of the thousands who are killed every year and there is no redress for it. We will fight until the mines are made secure and human life valued more than props. Look things in the face. Don’t fear a governor; don’t fear anybody…You are the biggest part of the population in the state. You create its wealth, so I say, “Let the fight go on; if nobody else will keep on, I will.”

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for March 1910: Found in Girard, Kansas, and at Miners’ Special Convention at Cincinnati

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Young Again, Special UMWC Cinc OH p62, Mar 24, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday April 15, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for March 1910:
-Found Visiting Girard, Kansas, and Speaking to Miners at Cincinnati

From The Pittsburg Daily Headlight of March 11, 1910:

Mother Jones the prominent Socialist lecturer has been in Girard this week.

From Hellraisers Journal of March 27, 1910:

Cincinnati, Ohio-Speech of Mother Jones at Miners’ Special Convention

From The Topeka State Journal of March 24, 1910:

SOUNDS CALL TO ARMS.
—–
“Mother Jones” Arouses Coal Miners
to Great Enthusiasm.
—–

Mother Jones, Dnv Pst p2, July 19, 1908

Cincinnati. O., March 24.-Bituminous coal operators and miners of Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, entered their subscale meeting this afternoon with almost certainty that a disagreement would be reported to the joint committee, that the joint conference would reach a like disagreement before tomorrow noon and that the International Convention of United Mine Workers would then be asked to say whether it should be industrial peace or war after April 1.

Operators of the three states immediately concerned, held a secret conference all morning and at the conclusion announced that the vote had been unanimous to resist all of the miners’ demand. The attitude of the miners in the international convention was shown during an address by “Mother” Jones when she declared:

If the operators force a fight we are all in trim to give them the hottest fight they ever had in their lives.

The convention was almost stampeded and the cheering did not cease for several minutes.

[She shouted:]

Line up, we are ready for war.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for January and February 1900, Found Receiving Fervent Ovation from Arnot Strikers

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote re Mother Jones at Arnot, Wellsboro PA Agitator p1, Jan 17, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 9, 1900
Mother Jones News Round-Up for January and February 1900
Found in Pennsylvania Receiving “Fervent Ovation” from Arnot Miners

From The Wellsboro Agitator of February 28, 1900:

Mother Jones, Arnot Strike ed, Elmira NY Dly Gz p5, Oct 7, 1899

LOCAL FACTS AND COMMENTS.
—–
Recent Haps and Mishaps in this County and Its Vicinity.

[…..]

–Arnot miners, who sought work elsewhere after the strike began, are now coming home.

[…..]

–Mrs. Mary Jones, of Pittsburg, the striking miners’ champion, left this county on the 19th instant to go to Toby valley whither she had been summoned. The night before her departure there was a fervent ovation in her honor at the opera-house in Blossburg. Mr. W. B. Wilson, of Blossburg, President of the 5th District United Mine Workers of America, presided and paid Mrs. Jones a glowing tribute. Mrs. Jones’s remarks were very affecting.

[…..]

———-

[Inset added from Elmira Gazette of October 7, 1899.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Speaks to Delegates at United Mine Workers Special Convention in Cincinnati

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Young Again, Special UMWC Cinc OH p62, Mar 24, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday March 27, 1910
Cincinnati, Ohio-Speech of Mother Jones at Miners’ Special Convention

From The Topeka State Journal of March 24, 1910:

SOUNDS CALL TO ARMS.
—–
“Mother Jones” Arouses Coal Miners
to Great Enthusiasm.
—–

Mother Jones, Dnv Pst p2, July 19, 1908

Cincinnati. O., March 24.-Bituminous coal operators and miners of Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, entered their subscale meeting this afternoon with almost certainty that a disagreement would be reported to the joint committee, that the joint conference would reach a like disagreement before tomorrow noon and that the International Convention of United Mine Workers would then be asked to say whether it should be industrial peace or war after April 1.

Operators of the three states immediately concerned, held a secret conference all morning and at the conclusion announced that the vote had been unanimous to resist all of the miners’ demand. The attitude of the miners in the international convention was shown during an address by “Mother” Jones when she declared:

If the operators force a fight we are all in trim to give them the hottest fight they ever had in their lives.

The convention was almost stampeded and the cheering did not cease for several minutes.

[She shouted:]

Line up, we are ready for war.

———-

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for February 1910, Part I: Found Fighting for Working Women

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

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday March 12, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for February 1910, Part I:
-Found Fighting for Working Women of Philadelphia and Milwaukee

From the International Socialist Review of February 1910:

Fighting to Live
—–

By Tom A. Price.
—–

* * *

[Mother Jones in Philadelphia.]

Mother Jones. This little woman whose heart is as big as the nation and beats wholly for humanity, came to Philadelphia while the trumpet was still reverberating after the call to arms had been sounded. Under her bold leadership the fighters were organized before the manufacturers had fairly realized that their workers had at last been stung to revolt by the same lash which had so often driven them to slavery.

Mother Jones, ISR Cover crpd p673 ed, Feb 1910

In impassioned speech after impassioned speech Mother Jones urged the girls on to battle. Shaking her gray locks in defiance she pictured the scab in such a light that workers still shudder when they think of what she would have considered them had they remained in the slave pens of the manufacturers. Every man and woman and child who heard her poignantly regrets the fact that her almost ceaseless labors at last drove her to her bed where she now lies ill.

But she had instilled into the minds of her followers the spirit which prompted her to cross a continent to help them. That spirit remains and is holding in place the standard which she raised. It is leading the girls to every device possible to help the cause. Many of them are selling papers on the street that they may earn money to contribute to the union which they love.

* * *

[Photograph from cover of February Review.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Arnot Miners’ Strike Ends in Victory; Mother Jones Given Rousing Farewell at Blossburg

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote re Mother Jones at Arnot, Wellsboro PA Agitator p1, Jan 17, 1900———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday February 24, 1900
Blossburg, Pennsylvania – Arnot Miners and Families Bid Mother Jones Farewell

From the Wilkes-Barre Daily News of February 17, 1900:

Mother Jones ed, St L Rpb p2, Feb 5, 1898

STRIKE DECLARED OFF.

BLOSSBURG, Pa., Feb. 16.-The strike at the Arnot and the Landrus mines of the Blossburg Coal Company, which began eight months ago, was officially declared of to-day, when all the demands of the miners were conceded by the company. The men will be put to work as fast as places can be made for them. One thousand men are affected. During the strike forty families were evicted from company houses at Arnot. There were daily demonstrations and parades and many were arrested charged with riot, true bills being found against 35 persons, including several women.

———-

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

From the Mansfield Advertiser of February 21, 1900:

-Mrs. Jones, of Pittsburg, otherwise “Mother Jones,” was given a rousing farewell at Blossburg Opera House last Saturday by the miners, late on strike, among whom she has labored so unceasingly the past few months.

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for January 1920: Found Speaking in Johnstown and Altoona, Pennsylvania

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Revolution in Our Veins, Altoona Tb p6, Jan 12, 1920 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 17, 1920
-Mother Jones News for January 1920
Found Speaking in Johnstown and Altoona, Pennsylvania

From The Pittsburg Press of January 6, 1920:

‘MOTHER’ JONES TALKS AT JOHNSTOWN TEMPLE
—–

GSS, Mother Jones, WZF, Survey p64, Nov 8, 1919

Special to THE PRESS.

Johnstown, Pa., Jan. 6.-Under police surveillance, “Mother” Jones, aged 90, who admits she labor agitator and who often has been arrested for her utterances and her part in labor troubles, spoke to 300 men, mostly foreigners, at Labor Temple, Sunday. Her audience was largely made up of the remnants of the steel strike organization and she harangued the men as if the steel strike had never been ended. Police were present at the meeting and her statements were considered milder than when she appeared here several months ago.

[Photograph of Mother Jones with William Z. Foster added.]

Note: The Great Steel Strike was officially called off by the National Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers on January 8th.

From the Altoona Times Tribune of January 7, 1920:

Mother Jones Talks To Flood City Men
—–

Mother Mary Jones, beloved by the miners of the country and the union workers of Colorado, comes to the Mishler theater Sunday afternoon to address the members of the craft unions of the city. She was the guest of the workers of Johnstown on Sunday afternoon and delivered an address in the Labor temple.

Mother Jones is most democratic and her aim in life is to make the workers comfortable. After being introduced to some 600 workers of the Flood City she won their hearts right off the reel by saying “If smoking gives you boys any comfort, keep right on smoking.” She then invited a squad of policemen to the stage but not one of them accepted but when she had finished several of them shook hands and congratulated her.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for January 1910, Part II: Found Speaking at Indianapolis United Mine Workers’ Convention

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Last Great Battle, UMWC p420, Jan 26, 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday February 13, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for January 1910, Part II:
-Found in Indianapolis Speaking at Mine Workers’ Convention

From The Indianapolis Star of January 25, 1910:

Mother Jones Lg, Ipl Str p3, Jan 25, 1910

From Hellraisers Journal of January 29, 1910
-Indianpolis, Indiana – Mother Jones Speaks to Her Boys:

From The Indianapolis News of January 26, 1910:

Mother Jones Speaks.

After music by the Lianelly Royal Welsh choir, which was applauded with a warmth that showed thorough appreciation. President [Thomas L.] Lewis introduced Mother Jones, who misses no convention of the miners. Mother Jones arraigned capital and set forth the claims of labor to better treatment. She referred to the anthracite strike and the Colorado strike.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for January 1910, Part II: Found Speaking at Indianapolis United Mine Workers’ Convention” →