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Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday July 22, 1903
Mother Jones Warmly Welcomed at Socialist Picnic at Sulzer’s Westchester Park
From The New York Times of July 20, 1903:
“MOTHER” JONES IN THE CITY.
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She Is Warmly Welcomed by the Socialist
Democrats at Westchester Picnic.
“Mother” Jones was the guest of honor yesterday [July 19th] at the annual picnic of the Socialist Democratic Party at Sulzer’s Westchester Park.
‘There were 4,000 persons present, and much disappointment in the afternoon when “Mother” Jones did not appear as she had promised. She arrived in the early evening, however, and was given a rousing welcome. Escorted by a committee to the platform in the pavilion, she had to wait some minutes before she could be heard.
[She said:]
I will be here with my children from the textile works Thursday evening, when I will address you at some length. I am too tired to do so now, and as you see, I am very hoarse.
There is one thing I must tell you, and that is, that I am going to complete the journey to Oyster Bay with my army to see the President. The newspapers say he will not see me. I am going there to find out if he is the President of the capitalists only, or whether be is the President of the workingmen too. If he is the President of the capitalists only, he will be wiped out at the next election.
At the conclusion of her remarks “Mother” Jones was escorted about the park. She was deeply interested in the tests of strength, particularly the work with the sledge hammer, and praised the workingmen for the power they showed in their play.
She was attracted by the neatly dressed children for whom many entertainments had been arranged, such as egg races and skipping the rope for prizes. She said she was glad they could play and had a chance to go to school. Watching the many drinking beer, she remarked that if they would save the drink money they would have more with which to win strikes.
The committee in charge promised “Mother” Jones that they would have Cooper Union engaged for her Thursday evening, or Madison Square Garden, if possible. They asserted that if they could get the big garden it would be overcrowded with the union workingmen and women of New York.
[Photograph and emphasis added.]
