Mother Mary Jones: Hell-raiser Extraordinaire
The Mother Jones Magazine website suggests that perhaps Mother Jones’ “greatest achievement may have been creating the persona of Mother Jones” (Gorn). The image and character of Mary Harris Jones greatly influenced the early labor movement. “Mother” Jones as she became called, presented herself as a stately, older woman wearing only black dresses in public and perhaps even “exaggerated” her date of birth and age to appear older than she was (Gorn). According to Mother Jones, she was born in Cork, Ireland in 1830 (Jones); however some historians believe that she may have been born around 1837 and perhaps as late as 1844 (Musil). Known for her fiery temperament and outspokenness, Mary Jones picked up the mantle of union fighter after her dressmaking business burned during the Great Chicago fire of 1871 (Gorn).
Mary Jones’ strong will and aggressive personality was born out of her own family history. Her grandfather was hung in Ireland for being an Irish freedom fighter (Hawse). Her father, a laborer, moved to the United States to pave a better way for his family (Jones). As a young woman, Mary Jones studied to become a teacher, but also learned her preferred trade of dressmaking (Jones). In 1861, she married a member of the Iron Moulder’s Union (Jones), a hard working laborer like her father. Unfortunately, in 1867 she was displaced as a mother and wife, when yellow fever swept through Memphis, killing her husband and children (Jones). Not knowing what to do in the aftermath of the fever epidemic, she moved to Chicago and opened a dressmaking business (Jones).
Her early life and her experiences as a dress maker for the well-to-do might have ignited Mary Jones’ interest in the labor rights movement (Women). In her autobiography, Mary Jones states “I would look out of the plate glass windows and see the poor, shivering wretches, jobless and hungry, walking along the frozen lake front. The contrast of their condition with that of the tropical comfort of the people for whom I sewed was painful to me. My employers seemed neither to notice nor to care. (Jones)”
Mother Mary Jones, while very focused on the rights of male workers, also picked up the cause for child and women laborers. She might have created the first “poster child” of sorts by organizing a march of child laborers on Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1903 (Jones).
The two works of literature nudging at the idea of women and their roles as domestic laborers were the works of Zora Neale Hurston in her short story “Sweat”, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Whatever the setting may be, whether it is the 1920’s with a woman putting her blood, sweat and tears into her job to provide for herself and her husband, or the 1890’s where a new mother is forced to stay at home and not express herself to her full potential, women have been forced into these boxes of what is and is not acceptable to do as a woman working or living at home. “Sweat” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” draw attention to suppressing a woman’s freedom to work along with suppressing a woman’s freedom to act upon her
One of the things that the women went through was alienation by other women, who were deemed as “true” women or respectable women. The alienation was not because of money or race, not even religion, but because the women of the factory wore slacks. A working class woman was seen as less of a woman because a woman during those times was expected to stay at home and play house because of society’s view on gender roles. Plus, the women who worked at factories wore slacks, which was a big taboo during those times also. Women who wore skirts
Lillian Wald: A Biography is the gripping and inspiring story of an American who left her mark on the history of the United States. Wald dedicated herself to bettering the lives of those around her. She was the founder of The Henry Street Settlement along with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. She worked with politics around the world and tried to bring healthcare and reform to people around the world. Using the lessons she learned in her childhood she worked closely with people from all backgrounds to fight for “universal brotherhood”. Wald was a progressive reformer, a social worker, a nurse, a teacher, and an author. Notably Lillian Wald, unlike many of the other women involved in the progressive movement such as Jane Adams, never received the same acknowledgement in the academic world.
Mary McLeod Bethune was an innovative leader because she took a story which was largely latent in the population, equal education rights for black children, and brought it to national prominence through the creation of the Bethune-Cookman college. She was also a visionary leader because of the incredible success she was able to attain in advancing the cause of equal education.
In Florence Kelley’s 1905 speech to the Philadelphia convention of the National American Women Suffrage Association, she accentuates the obligatory need to reform the working conditions for young children.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the fight for equal and just treatment for both women and children was one of the most historically prominent movements in America. Courageous women everywhere fought, protested and petitioned with the hope that they would achieve equal rights and better treatment for all, especially children. One of these women is known as Florence Kelley. On July 22, 1905, Kelley made her mark on the nation when she delivered a speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association, raising awareness of the cruel truth of the severity behind child labor through the use of repetition, imagery and oxymorons.
On July 22, 1905, social worker and reformer, Florence Kelley, stood in Philadelphia before an audience and presented a speech about the idea of combing the women’s suffrage and child labor issues in order to make more probable advantages in both departments. Her speech was given in away to entice the crowd and motivate them to fix the issues at hand. She was able to effectively able to give her speech by appealing to the crowds emotions and by using ironic diction and syntax to engage the crowd into the words she was saying and backing them up with substantial evidence.
One of the main goals in the life of an elite southern woman was to be continually regarded as a lady. While some southern women privately disagreed with the popular social and political mindsets of their era, most of their opinions were not so strong that they felt the need to publicly advocate for change. This was mainly due to the fact that if a woman expressed her opinion publicly, she would be seen as unladylike, which would be a blow to her reputation, the cornerstone of how she defined herself. In the book Mothers of Invention, Drew Gilpin Faust gives the reader Lucy Wood as an example of an elite southern woman who had a negative opinion of the African slave trade. In a letter to her future husband, Lucy Wood expressed that she felt the African slave trade was “extremely revolting,” however, she was also quick to add “[but] I have no political opinion and have a peculiar dislike of all females who discuss such matters.” (10). This elite southern woman was apparently more concerned with her own ladylike reputation than standing up for ...
The 1890s-1920s is what is referred to today as the Progressive Era. This was a time in which many people rose to push their beliefs and create a better future for America. These people called themselves progressives and they would make America the place we know today. They addressed important issues such as women’s rights, working conditions, and temperance. One such reformer was a woman named Mary Harris Jones. Mary Jones, later known as Mother Jones, was one of the most successful and effective progressive reformers of all time due to her experiences, work in labor agitation, and effective speeches.
"Slave power crushes freedom of speech and of opinion. Slave power degrades labor. Slave power is arrogant, is jealous and intrusive, is cruel, is despotic, not only over the slave but over the community, the state." This quote comes from Elizabeth Van Lew, whose father owned slaves before the civil war. Elizabeth was an abolitionist and didn’t believe in her fathers ways. One of the slaves on the Van Lew plantation, Mary Elizabeth Bowser went on to be much more than just a slave.
“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves” – Mary Wollstonecraft. In the 19th century the hot topic was women’s rights everybody had an opinion about it. Of course the expected ones like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had much to say but a few unexpected ones like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass spoke out for women’s rights. The focus will be the responsibilities and roles that the activists played in the Women’s Rights or Feminist Movement. The relevance to the theme is the activists had a very important role toward reaching the ultimate goal of the Women’s Rights Movement. The Women’s Rights Movement was one of the most essential times in American history; it was the fight for women acquiring the same rights as men. Susan B. Anthony was considered the leader of the Women’s Rights Movement after she was denied the right to speak in a temperance convention; she had the responsibility of creating the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) and helping to secure voting rights by her historic court case, the Trials of Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an important women’s rights activist that helped plan the first organized women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York and wrote the Declaration of Sentiments. Lucretia Mott worked along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to plan the first women’s rights convention and wrote the, “Discourse on Women”. Lucy Stone formed the American Women’s Suffrage Association (AWSA) and convince individual states to join the effort towards women rights. These women had an influence in the National American Women’s Suffrage Association’s (NAWSA) achievement of the goals in the Women’s Rights Movement. These women had a profound effect on reaching equal rights between men and women.
Almost all Americans have learned about the iconic people in American history including George Washington, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln. Although all of them deserve their recognition, they aren’t the only ones who have changed history. Many Americans, not just a select few, changed history and created the America we know today. One in particular is Clarissa Harlowe Barton, who went by the name of Clara. At the time Clara lived, women were still considered inferior to men. Throughout her work, she faced much sexism, but she worked past it and created a legacy for herself. Also occurring during her life was the Civil War, which she was a very helpful part of. Clara’s most well known achievement is her founding of the American Red Cross. In addition to that, Clara also established the nation’s first free public school in Bordentown, New Jersey, worked as a field nurse during the Civil War, and supported the movement for women’s suffrage. Barton has received little recognition for her efforts, but the work she did is still being continued today at the American Red Cross where they give relief to the victims 70,000 every year. By understanding her life and the work she did, people are able to realize the impact she had on the world, for it far exceeds that of which she is recognized with.
On the floor of the House of Representatives she was branded a ''notorious and troublesome woman.” Mary became a member of the Industrial Workers World. This is also known as the Wobblies. Mary Jones traveled the country helping workers to form themselves into unions. In 1908 Jones played a leading role in the mine strike in Paint Creek, West Virginia. During the strike, men employed by the mine-owners machine-gunned the strikers and their families.
Mary Wollstonecraft lived with a violet and abusive father which led her to taking care of her mom and sister at an early age. Fanny Blood played an important role in her life to opening her to new ideas of how she actually sees things. Mary opened a school with her sister Eliza and their friend Fanny Blood. Back then for them being a teacher made them earn a living during that time, this made her determined to not rely on men again. Mary felt as if having a job where she gets paid for doing something that back then was considered respected than she wouldn’t need a man to be giving her money. She wasn’t only a women’s right activist but she was a scholar, educator and journalist which led her to writing books about women’s rights.
This book was so informative that it is so hard to pick only two parts that impacted me the most. If I have to choose only two the first would be Chapter Eight, “ The Poor and Rich in Love.” As Mother Theresa makes so many points in this section. The stories she tells about bringing the dying off the streets to die in peace. This is so touching that these missionaries devote their lives to the poor. They choose to be poor, and Mother Theresa talks about they choose to be poor to really understand and feel what these poor people are experiencing. The stories she tells of bringing dying people in from the streets and how they die so peacefully and have a last change to really feel that there is a God before passing away, this is very touching. There are poor people all over the world and these sisters have devoted their lives to the poor and choose to be poor themselves. Which Mother Teresa says she feels is important, this way they can understand these people and do work for Jesus. In several sections she speaks of dying people who are so happy that they have been brought to a wonderful peaceful place to die. They get to believe in God again before passing away. They actually are smiling as they die, with someone who cares at there side. After leaving on the streets for years and no one wanting them, how peaceful it must be to die ...