Tag Archives: Illinois

The Death of Mother Jones, November 30th 1930.

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Mother Jones passed away at 11.55pm on Sunday November 30th, 1930. This year marks the ninety third anniversary of her death. The death certificate stated it was due to senility. She was ninety three years old. A requiem mass was held for her at St Gabriel’s Church in Washington on the morning of December 3rd.

Mother Jones and friends with a birthday cake on her American birthday 1st May 1930. She had claimed to be one hundred years old, in reality, Mother Jones was ninety two at the time. Mother Jones lived on the farm run by Walter and Lillian Burgess at Old Powdermill Road, Hyattsville, near Washington DC, where this birthday party was held. Photo courtesy of Saul Schniderman.

Her remains were taken by railroad car to St. Louis Union Station and then the 40 miles onwards to Mount Olive. A band played “Nearer, My God, to Thee” as thousands of people awaited the transfer of her coffin to the Odd Fellows’ Hall. It lay in state until the memorial service on Sunday during which many thousands of workers, union officials and the curious filed past.

Thousands of union miners march in Mt Olive at the funeral of Mother Jones (Illinois Labor History Society).

The Ascension Church was packed for Fr John Maguire’s eulogy at 2pm, with thousands of miners gathered outside, packing the nearby streets listening on loudspeakers. On the morning of Monday, December 8th after 10:00 am Mass, her casket was then taken to Mount Olive Miners cemetery to her final resting place.

Union leaders carry the coffin of Mother Jones,

Old photos show an enormous gathering of people covering the large graveyard. Motion picture cameras record the huge funeral throngs.

Fr Maguire’s tribute opened with;

“today in gorgeous mahogany furnished and carefully guarded offices in distant capitals, wealthy mine owners and capitalists are breathing sighs of relief.

Today upon the plains of Illinois, the hillsides and valleys of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, in California, Colorado and British Columbia, strong men and toil worn women are weeping tears of bitter grief. 

The reasons……….are the same. Mother Jones is dead.”

Fr. Maguire tribute.

It was hard to imagine that this frail Cork women was once branded as “the most dangerous woman in America”.

Thousands gather outside the Ascension Church, Mt Olive, Illinois.

Mother Jones was very active at Labor Day Celebrations in Chicago.

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The Mother Jones Heritage Project has been extremely busy in Chicago planning for the landmark monument to Mother Jones in the city. It is hoping that the statue will be erected during 2024. Fundraising continues and we ask our supporters and friends to contribute, if possible.

The Mother Jones Heritage Project in Chicago wishes to thank all who helped to ensure Mother Jones took part in many parades for Labor Day, including Reno Nevada, Chicago, Rockford, Princeton Indiana’s huge LaborFest, and Nashville Tennessee’s upcoming parade. More photos here.


Brigid Duffy (Chicago’s Mother Jones) appeared in costume for many of the events.  

https://motherjonesmuseum.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df1d5ad85a913b7ca9965cd78&id=5a87771bbc&e=720f2ca25c

At the March of the Mill Children 2023. Credit (Mother Jones Heritage Project).
On July 7 2023, the Mother Jones Heritage Project  organized a 130th commemoration of the March of the Mill Children at City Hall in Philadelphia, where the dramatic 1903 march was launched . Amidst concerns over the growing number of children in dangerous jobs, this issue is as relevant as ever. See the full story. 

See 2019 March of the Mill Children in Cork.

March of the Mill Children re-enacted in Shandon, Cork
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Sheehan launches the March of the Mill Children pageant in 2019 in Cork,

Mother Jones Statue in Chicago will Become a Major City Landmark.

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Further Funding for the Mother Jones Statue in Chicago

The Mother Jones Statue campaign announced on June 19 last that it has received a further $250,000 funding for the statue project at the Water Tower in Chicago. 

Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago making the announcement

The years of work the Chicago Committee has invested in planning for a Mother Jones statue is getting closer to fruition and the Cork born labour and union organiser will soon grace the Chicago skyline.

It is particularly rewarding that this is part of a package in support of multiple projects of underrepresented peoples projects.  The Mellon Foundation announced a grant of $6.8 million to The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) to support the Chicago Monuments Project (CMP) and citywide community-generated commemorative initiatives and installations.

The Plaza where the Mother Jones Statue will be erected.

The Mellon Foundation grant, in coordination with the Monuments Project, is part of a recent expansion of the Mother Jones project from the original plan. This is now a landmark project that will result in a much bigger impact.

The Mother Jones Monument project committee has now raised about $160,000 dollars and still needs about $40,000. The committee wishes to raise further funding to fulfil its share of the costs of this magnificent project, some $200,000 and continues to seek donations, including from Ireland. Congratulations to all for the hard work in organising the Mother Jones statue project from a dream to a reality.

For further information visit www.motherjonesmuseum.org

Please see link below to listen to a recent reference by the Irish Ambassador to the United States, Geraldine Byrne Nason to Mother Jones.

https://www.motherjonesmuseum.org/statue?pgid=kag5gjz7-1efc737f-074a-4e1e-b7cd-881cb5648d53&fbclid=IwAR1c5yqLyqAKLnNwf_BmuLH7TjJnUg-KDf-VvUr_0bi5jHQ5YNovdpB_JNs

Mother Jones Birthday Celebrations in America.

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A Mother Jones Birthday party will take place on Sunday 30th April from 3 – 5 pm at the Irish American Heritage Centre in Chicago.

It will feature Liz Carroll, (fiddle), Brendan and Siobhan Mc Kinney (pipes and Flute), Kathy Cowan, vocalist and Mother Jones, Brigid Duffy. In attendance also will be Sarah Keating, Vice Consul of Ireland in Chicago.

Karen White of the NEA. (Source: Mother Jones Heritage).
Kathy Cowan. (Source: Mother Jones Heritage)

Karen White of the National Education Association will speak to issues of the exploitation of children on this the 120th Anniversary of the march of the Mill Children led by Mother Jones in 1903.

Fundraising is proceeding for the erection of the new Mother Jones Monument in Chicago.

Further information from www.motherjonesmuseum.org

Meanwhile about 250 miles further south in the town of Mt. Olive, the burial place of Mother Jones an International Mother Jones Festival takes place also on Sunday 30th April. It will be held at the Union Miners Cemetery beginning at 12 noon and continuing afterwards at the Mother Jones Museum on Main Street.

Speakers and artists include the Consul-General of Ireland in Chicago, Kevin Byrne. Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL/CIO and Brother Jerome Lewnard of the Viatorian Order. Music will be provided by Wildflower Conspiracy along with a number of other bands. Loretta Williams will participate as Mother Jones and historian, Dale Hawkins will also take part.

Further details call 618-659-8759.  

Congratulations to all involved and best wishes from Cork for the May Day American Birthday celebrations for Mother Jones.

Note: The American celebrations have traditionally taken place around May Day which was the day, Mother Jones gave as her birthday, however her real birth date was probably 31st July 1837 as she was baptised at the North Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne in Cork on the 1st August of that year.

Credit: Consul General of Ireland, Chicago.
Credit: Mother Jones Museum, Chicago

Photo 1: Kevin Byrne Consul General of Ireland, Chicago with Tim Drea, President of the AFL-CIO in Illinois at Mount Olive Cemetery on the 30th May 2023.

Photo 2: Rosemary Feurer of the Mother Jones Museum, Chicago making a presentation of a limited edition artwork by Lindsay Hand, “Chicago March 1915” to Karen White, speaker at the May Day Chicago Celebration of Mother Jones.

Cork Artists urged to participate in the design for the “We Shall Rise” Mother Jones Monument in Chicago.

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Having selected the site for the Mother Jones Monument, the City of Chicago is now seeking the RFQs (Request for Qualifications) from artists who wish to submit designs for the monument. The next steps will be for the Advisory Committee to choose an artist and a design, with a goal of dedicating the memorial.

The idea to honour Mother Jones was promoted by the Mother Jones Heritage Project, and the great news is that Irish artists and sculptors can apply. So if you know friends, groups or people who might be interested and qualify, especially those here in Cork (the birthplace of Mary Harris) please do send the link underneath to them. 

Closing date is 26th March 2023, all details in the attached link above.

The Chicago Monuments Project (CMP) Advisory Committee and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Projects has decided the statue memorialising Labor icon “Mother” Jones will be placed in Jane Byrne Plaza, in the shadow of Chicago’s historic Water Tower. Jane Byrne (Burke) was the first woman Mayor of Chicago.

Chicago Water Tower. Photo: (Rosemary Feurer).

Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, in an effort to court controversy back in 1882 unfairly described the historic water tower as “a castellated monstrosity with pepper-boxes stuck all over it”. Wilde died on the 30th November 1900, thirty years to the day before Mother Jones.

The artwork commission will be $250,000.

Water Tower and Jane Byrne Plaza. Photo (Rosemary Feurer).

According to Rosemary Feurer of the Mother Jones Heritage Project in Chicago,

“Mother Jones organised oppressed and exploited people, including women and children, black and white, native born and immigrant. She fought to end child labor, and campaigned to  improve the working conditions for millions of poor people all over America for many decades,” 

James Nolan for the Cork Mother Jones Committee stated;

“This competition to find a suitable design for a monument to celebrate Cork born Mary Harris in Chicago represents a fantastic opportunity for  Cork artists with a track record to apply to design what will be a landmark public memorial in a major American city.

We are really hoping some Cork artists will get involved in this design due to its huge connection to the rebel spirit of a woman born in our own city. She was the rebel daughter of Cork City, who survived so much tragedy and yet her indomitable spirit prevailed.

The Chicago City Authorities have just recently issued details of the initial requirements needed to participate in the process.” 

The Chicago Water Tower after the Great Fire of Chicago. (Wikipedia).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Water_Tower

For further details about Mother Jones, visit https://www.motherjonesmuseum.org/about-us.

May Day Mother Jones Birthday Party in Chicago.

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The May Day Party for Mother Jones will take place at the Irish American Heritage Centre at 4626 North Knox Avenue in Chicago from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

Among those participating are: 

  • Kevin Byrne, Ireland’s Consul General to Chicago and the Midwest.
  • Sara Nelson President of the Association of Flight Attendants CWA, AFLCIO.
  • Don Villar, Secretary Treasurer Chicago Federation of Labour.
  • Also participating are singers and artists such as Paddy Homan, Kathy Cowan and the SAG-AFTRA singers while artist Lindsay Hand will sign posters.

All proceeds will go towards the Chicago Statue Campaign.

There are very few monuments which commemorate women in Chicago and as with most cities everywhere none of working class women.

Statue of Mother Jones.

Why not  assist the Chicago campaign to ensure that a beautiful statue is erected to honour Cork born Mary Harris who as Mother Jones worked ceaselessly to help immigrants of many nationalities to organise for decent wages and safe working conditions by joining the American trade union movement!. 

A broad based fundraising committee in the City has been active in fundraising to bring the dream of the Mother Jones statue to reality. 

Image of Proposed Statue of Mother Jones in Wacker, near Michigan Ave, Chicago.

With the help of the American trade unions and many others, the committee is close to achieving this ambition.  Let’s put this iconic Irish immigrant refugee and a founder of the American Labour Movement–the Mother of the working class–on a statue in the city she called home.

Go to the website www.motherjonesmuseum.org to see how you can help.   

https://www.motherjonesmuseum.org/event-details/mother-jones-may-day-birthday-party-may-1-2022-4-6-pm-chicago are hardly any sculptures of women historical figures in the city of Chicago.

https://conta.cc/3DzmU9T

Mount Olive Cemetery to honour the family of Mother Jones.

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A commemorative bench honouring the memory of the family of Mother Jones will be unveiled on May Day 2022 at the Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive.

The grave of Mary Harris/Mother Jones lies in this unique cemetery, her memory forever immortalised in the large grave monument erected in 1936 to her memory.

Loretta Williams at the Mother Jones Monument.

During the forthcoming Mt. Olive International Mother Jones Festival 2022, the Union Miners Cemetery Perpetual Care Association along with the Illinois AFL-CIO and the UMWA Local 1613 will dedicate a memorial bench to her often forgotten husband George Jones and her children, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Terence who died in Memphis during the Yellow Fever epidemic of September 1867.

Entrance to Mt. Olive Cemetery courtesy of Pat Schmeder.
commemorative-bench-information-2Download

To hear directly from the Mayor of Mt Olive John Skertich and Nelson Grman, a member of the Union Miners Cemetery Perpetual Care Committee, long-time union activist and promoter of Mother Jones please click on the following link. 

https://youtu.be/6wGmP2e5ZGk

St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Chicago 2022 with Mother Jones.

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Congratulations to all involved with bringing Mother Jones to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Mother Jones inflatable was paraded through the streets of Chicago, on Saturday 12th March and received a great reception from the thousands lining the streets. Brigid Duffy also appeared as the Chicago Mother Jones.

The parade honoured Chicago’s essential workers. After a two year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the parade returned to Columbus Drive on Saturday, where the Chicago River was dyed green, a 60 year tradition. This event is believed to be the largest neighbourhood based St. Patrick’s Day parade outside of Dublin, drawing as many as 150,000 people.

Mother Jones at Chicago Parade courtesy of Mother Jones Lives.
Brigid Duffy as Mother Jones at the Parade, courtesy of Mother Jones Lives.

Why did Mother Jones wish to be buried at Mount Olive?

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Every wonder why Mother Jones wished to be buried near “her boys”  at the town of Mount Olive, in Southern Illinois in the Union Miners Cemetery, which is located near Route 66 midway between Springfield and St. Louis?


Mother Jones had earlier written to the Miners of Mount Olive on November 12th 1923, seeking 

“a resting place in the same clay that shelters the miners who gave up their lives in the hills of Virden, Illinois on the morning of October 12th 1898, for their heroic sacrifice for their fellow men”.

Extract from Mother Jones and the Union Miners Cemetery Mount Olive, Illinois by the Illinois Labor History Society.

Her request was granted.

Grave of Mother Jones, Mount Olive.

 
The Battle of Virden claimed the lives of four Mount Olive miners and since 1899, October 12th has been celebrated as Miners Day in Illinois at the Union Miners Cemetery.


During the battle, seven miners were killed and forty were wounded. Five mine guards died and four were wounded. The youngest miner killed was Edward Long, just 19 years old from Mount Olive.

Virden Monument. Mother Jones rear centre.

Many activists from the Progressive Miners of America are buried at Mount Olive. Recently the remains of labour singer Anne Feeney, were placed in the cemetery.

To listen to the story of the Battle of Virden, the following is an interesting interview with local resident and historian John Alexander, an Illinois bookstore owner.
https://https://youtu.be/8qcBLQL2beg
www.buzzsprout.com/1856440/

Our thanks to JASE Media Services in Mount Olive for their kind permission to share this podcast.

Mother Jones Portraits Unveiled in Washington and Chicago.

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On Saturday May 1st 2021, the Irish Embassy in Washington and the Irish Consulate in Chicago unveiled two beautiful portraits of Mother Jones. Commissioned by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and painted by artist Lindsay Hand, they represent a fitting tribute to this great Cork born woman, trade union and labour activist. This was part of “If Walls Could Talk” initiative by the Irish Consulate.

Irish Ambassador to America, Daniel Mulhall unveiled the portrait at the embassy where it will hang proudly alongside the portrait of the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis.

Kevin Byrne, the Irish Consul General in Chicago conducted an interesting discussion with Lindsay Hand, the artist and a series of Illinois based trade union leaders who explained what Mother Jones means to them. The trade union leaders who participated in the discussion included Sheila Gainer, UniteHere union organiser, Pat Meade of the Illinois Nurses Association and Deborah Cosey-Lane of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu2bRaFN2Yg
https://www.motherjonesmuseum.org/post/lindsay-hand-s-art-brings-fannie-sellins-spirit-to-life

To read the media reports of the Mother Jones portraits, click below.

Portraits of Shandon-born woman unveiled in Washington and Chicago (echolive.ie)

Irish born activist Mother Jones remains ‘an inspiration’ (irishtimes.com)

Mother Jones by Lindsay Hand
Mother Jones by Lindsay Hand