Mother Jones: "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!" Mary Harris "Mother" Jones lost her husband and four children to yellow fever, then all of her personal belongings in the great Chicago fire. She then adopted American working people as her family. Mother Jones fought for better working conditions for miners, tradesmen and women, and to reform child labor laws. A dramatic speaker who commanded much attention, she helped in the 1877 Pittsburgh railway strike; during the 1880s she organized and ran educational meetings. She was an organizer for the United Mine Workers, helped found the Social Democratic Party in 1898, was a lecturer for the Socialist Party of America, and aided in the formation of the Industrial Workers of the World. During a strike in West Virginia, she was arrested during a protest, convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Her ordeal was not without its positive outcome--the U.S. Senate ordered a committee to investigate conditions in the West Virginia coalfields, and she was set free by the governor. In her eighties, Mother Jones brought a packed house in Trinidad, Colorado's West theatre to its feet. "Rise up and strike. . .strike until the last one of you drop into your graves. We are going to stand together and never surrender. Boys, always remember you ain't got a damn thing if you ain't got a union!" Mother Jones lived 100 years. She is buried in the Union Miners Cemetery at Mount Olive, Illinois. Read on for more                 About the Program || Joe Hill Home || PBS Home