9.1 Teacher Resource- Sample Essay - Person
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones
A poor immigrant who suffered many personal tragedies, Mary Harris “Mother” Jones
dedicated her life to helping workers improve their pay, hours, and working conditions,
which helped make the growth of a middle class possible in the U. S. Industrial Age.
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was born into a poor family in Cork County, Ireland
sometime around 1837. (In her autobiography, she says she was born in 1830. Her biographers
say she was born later.) Her family became even poorer during the potato famine when landlords
began to raise rents or evict tenants in order to use the land for grazing cows. Her grandfather,
who was involved in protests against the landlords, was murdered.
Mary Harris’s father immigrated to New York, where he found work on the Erie Canal.
He saved money and in 1841, he brought his family to the United States. They settled in Toronto,
Canada, where he could earn more money. Mary attended school in a one-room, fire-heated log
cabin. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school, and she went on to
attend the Toronto Normal School, where she was trained as a teacher.
After teaching for a couple of years in Maine and in Michigan, Mary Harris moved to
Chicago to work as a seamstress. After two years in Chicago, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee
because she heard they needed teachers. There she met her husband George Jones. He was a
molder in an iron foundry where he did dangerous work in unhealthy working conditions. He
was just learning about labor union organizing when they were married.
The Jones’s first daughter was born in 1862 at the beginning of the Civil War. Before the
war ended, Mary and George had three more children. After the war, George became involved
with the Iron Molders Union and in just a few months became a full-time union organizer.
George traveled around the country while Mary stayed at home with their four young children.
In 1867, yellow fever came to Memphis. One-by-one her children died and one week
later her husband died, too. Just a few days after she buried George, Mary got a permit to enter
From J. Moreillon, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries. (Chicago: ALA Editions). Licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/.
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9.1 Teacher Resource- Sample Essay - Person
quarantined homes and tend to yellow fever patients. The loss of her family changed the course
of her life.
She moved back to Chicago and took up sewing again. The Great Chicago Fire happened
on October 7, 1871, and Mary Harris Jones once again lost everything, her house, her sewing
machine, and her business. While homeless and wandering the streets, she learned about and
joined the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, an organization that wanted all United
States workers to be united into one cooperative union. Although she had no experience as a
public speaker, Mary began making speeches to help people understand the plight of the
underpaid and overworked. She participated in marches and demonstrations.
Mary Harris Jones joined the railroad workers’ picket lines in Pittsburgh in 1877. She
collected and distributed food to the striking workers and their families. Eventually, she returned
to Chicago. She watched from the sidelines in 1886 when the Knights of Labor didn’t help
protesters. She was disheartened and felt betrayed by the organization that had first introduced
her to the work of an activist and organizer. Still, she did not give up on unions.
By 1890, she was on the road working with coal miners. Mary Harris Jones had no
permanent address. Carrying everything she owned in small sack, she always wore long, black,
dresses and her snow-white hair in a bun. She looked like a kindly grandmother, but she spoke
with power and directness that was not typical of elderly women of her generation. Miners
started calling her “Mother” or the “Miner’s Angel;” she called the striking miners her “boys.”
Mother Jones knew she could get away with things other people could not. She often
asked the mine guards if they would shoot an old lady; fortunately, they did not. She held
meetings in public parks, gave speeches, and raised money for workers’ causes. She believed
that if men earned a decent wage, women could take care of their families and homes and
children could go to school. Mary Harris Jones even went to jail for her beliefs, but she never
From J. Moreillon, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries. (Chicago: ALA Editions). Licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/.
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9.1 Teacher Resource- Sample Essay - Person
gave up her passionate fight for justice. She died in 1930, a hero who inspired working children
and adults to stand up for their rights.
From J. Moreillon, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries. (Chicago: ALA Editions). Licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/.
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9.1 Teacher Resource- Sample Essay - Person
Works Consulted
"Autobiography of Mother Jones - Chapter X - March of the Mill Children." Women's History Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide. Web. 30 Aug. 2010.
<http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/mj/bl_mj10.htm>.
Coleman, Penny. Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook
Press, 1994. Print.
Gorn, Elliot J. "The History of Mother Jones | Mother Jones." Mother Jones | Smart, Fearless
Journalism. Web. 30 Aug. 2010. <http://motherjones.com/about/what-mother-jones/ourhistory>.
“Jones, Mary Harris”. World Book. Vol. 11. Chicago: World Book, 2005: 159.
Koestler-Grack, Rachel A. The Story of Mother Jones. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004. Print.
From J. Moreillon, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries. (Chicago: ALA Editions). Licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/.
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9.1 Teacher Resource- Sample Essay - Person
From J. Moreillon, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries. (Chicago: ALA Editions). Licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/.
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9.1 Teacher Resource- Sample Essay - Person
Works Consulted
Coleman, Penny. Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook
Press.
Gorn, Elliot. J. “Mother Jones: The Woman.” Mother Jones. Web. 30 Aug. 2010.
<http://motherjones.com/about/what-mother-jones/our-history>.
Jones, Mary Harris. “The Autobiography of Mother Jones: Chapter X. March of the Mill
Children.” About.com. Web. 30 Aug. 2010.
<http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/mj/bl_mj10.htm>.
“Jones, Mary Harris.” World Book. Vol. 15. Chicago: World Book. 2005. 159.
Koestler-Grack, Rachel A. The Story of Mother Jones. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004.
From J. Moreillon, Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries. (Chicago: ALA Editions). Licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/.
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