An extraordinary gathering of Women Coal Miners will take place in Tennessee in the United States from August 2nd. Large numbers of women miners from the US, Canada and Britain will come together for a reunion in Jonesborough, near the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee University. On August 1st, Mother Jones Day in Cork, a group of the women who are part of the “Daughters of Mother Jones” will unfurl a banner to express their solidarity and support for the Cork Mother Jones Festival and to mark the 176th anniversary of the baptism of Mary Harris / Mother Jones on 1st August 1837 at the North Cathedral in Cork.

Women Miners Reunion, Jonesborough, Tennessee

Participants will include former underground miners who pioneered gender integration in the coal industry in the 1970s and representatives from Women Against Pit Closures in England. This reunion is the first international gathering of women coal miners in nearly 15 years.

Marat Moore at the summit of Croagh Patrick mountain, Co. Mayo, Ireland after last year’s inaugural Cork Mother Jones Festival

We hope to have photos of the unfurling of the “Daughters of Mother Jones” banner on this site next week. Our thanks to Marat Moore from the group who was one of our main speakers at last year’s cork Mother Jones festival.

In the meantime we send best wishes and solidarity to the women and hope that their gathering will be an outstanding success.