An economic depression hit the United States in 1893,
leading to greater levels unemployment and homelessness. Organized
by a man named Jacob Coxey, an "army" of unemployed men marched to
Washington D.C. to demand the creation of a federal jobs program.
One of the march's volunteers and participants was Mary Harris,
who helped raise money for food and transportation. Although only
a few hundred of the marchers actually reached their destination,
the march was successful in calling national attention to the plight
of the unemployed. In addition, strikes began to occur across the
country. Organized by the newly created United Mine Workers, 125,000
mine workers went on strike in April of 1894, and in traditionally
racist Alabama, black and white miners marched against convict
labor. Eugene Debs led the American Railway Union on a strike, but
that was quickly stopped and Debs was sent to prison.
When Debs was released in 1896, Mary Harris greeted him
in Alabama with thousands of cheering workers. Debs welcomed his impromptu
reception as an opportunity to begin explaining socialism, which
he had discovered in prison, to the workers. In journals like the Appeal
to Reason, which became a popular left-wing periodical,
activists Debs were able to put forth their political ideals. Although
Jones helped to produce this journal, she spent most of her time
organizing workers. At this time, Mary Harris began to emerge as Mother
Jones, traveling around to help the workers who needed
her.
In the late nineteenth century, West Virginia was overrun
by corporations, which were able to override local laws and more
or less follow their own rules. With companies controlling all
aspects of their workers' lives, unionization in these isolated
mine towns was difficult. The Knights of Labor had attempted to
unionize miners, but their policies of arbitration rather than
striking were unsuccessful. In 1890, the United Mine Workers used
direct strategies, such as strikes and confrontations, to ensure
that the needs of the workers were addressed. Mother Jones devoted
herself to unionizing mine-workers as part of the UMW. As a result
of her efforts such as hers, the UMW soon became a powerful labor
union.
One of the first major victories for the UMW was a strike
in the Central Competitive Field strike of 1897, which included
mines in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. Facing
a pay cut, thousands of miners walked out of work and began a prolonged strike.
In western Pennsylvania, Mother Jones applied her organizing skills
to supply food for the mine-workers' families, and convinced large
numbers of women to join the strike. The UMW efforts were successful,
and the miners eventually won the right to a raise.
After this success, the UMW began an organizing drive
in eastern Pennsylvania, in what was called "Anthracite Country."
After nineteen strikers were killed by guards at the Lattimer mines,
workers rallied to the union. During the many walkouts and strikes
that occurred in Anthracite Country, Mother Jones played an instrumental
role, especially in motivating women to prevent scabs from entering
the mines. These "broom and mop" brigades of mothers and wives
succeeded in distracting guards, scaring away scabs or strikebreakers,
and were generally so intimidating that the other union leaders
worried they might insight violence. In recognition of Mother Jones's
work, John Mitchell, president of the UMW, appointed her to the
position of International Organizer. Jones continued
to rally farmers to supply food for the strikers. Her oratorical
skills, uplifting humor, and her motherly devotion to all workers
succeeded in gaining support. Eventually, President Theodore Roosevelt
ordered the notorious mogul J.P. Morgan, who owned the anthracite
mines, to take the dispute to a commission, and to set up an arbitration
board that would give equal leverage to the union.
