Passage V

Mother Jones: True to the Spirit of Her Cause

The autobiography by Mary Harris Jones is riddled with factual inaccurate. Jones even fudges her date of birth, she falsely lists May 1, International Workers’ Day, and ages herself by nearly a decade. These untruths—whether deliberate exaggerations or slips of the memory一ultimately matters very little, for the autobiography isn’t about the life of Mary Harris Jones. Jones became famous for her work.

When Mary Harris Jones got involved in labor politics in the 1860s, it was rare for a woman to attend, let alone address, union meetings. Jones, however, became one of the movement’s most powerful and controversial advocate’s. She traveled the United States, from the coal mines of Appalachia to the railroad yards of the West, rallying workers to join unions and fight for better working conditions. Specifically, Jones helped organize efforts to ensure that employers complied with laws governing workday hours and child labor.

The moniker “Mother Jones” was conferred on Jones by members of the American Railway Union. She herself, adopted the name and, subsequently, a corresponding public persona. Her audiences came to expect “Mother Jones.” (68) By 1900, the white-haired, calico-frocked figure was no longer known as Mary Harris Jones, the media, union leaders and workers, and even U.S. presidents referred to her as Mother Jones.

Embracing the very role used to confine women to the domestic sphere, Jones subversively redefined the boundaries of home and family. “My address is like my shoes,” she said. “It travels with me wherever I go.” She was the matriarch who staunchly protected workers. (71)

And protect them she did: When workers went on strike, Jones secured food donations and temporary living arrangements. Where companies prevented the formation of unions, she fought for workers’ right to organize. Instead of these tireless efforts on there behalf, workers trusted Mother Jones and, by extension, the labor unions she represented.