Mary Harris Jones

Mary Harris “Mother Jones” Jones is my hero. She is my hero because she believed in something. She believed that child labor should be abolished. No matter how many times she was told no or she couldn’t, she fought for that one reason. That’s what I look for in a hero, the fact that they never back down.

Mary Harris Jones was born August 1, 1837 in Cork, Ireland, and died November 30, 1930. She was a prominent American labor and community organizer, a Wobbly (Industrial Workers of the World), and a socialist. Mary Harris Jones is the remarkable lady who successfully ended child labor.

Mother Jones

To end child labor, Mary Harris organized the “Children’s Crusade” in 1903 for children working in mills and mines. The march led from Kensington, Pennsylvania to Oyster Bay, New York, President Theodore Roosevelt’s home, carrying banners saying, “We want to go to School, not mines!” Unfortunately, President Roosevelt refused to meet the marches. Fortunately, the incident brought the issue, child labor, to the forefront of the public agenda.

One of the worst events in her entire life was in 1867 when her husband and four children (all under five years of age) died because of Yellow Fever. This maybe was one of her motivations to help people, including children. After the death of her family, she moved to Chicago. Unfortunately everything she had burned in the Great Chicago Fire. Afterwards, she went on to become the “Nation’s Most Dangerous Woman”, and to children, “Mother Jones”.

Mother Jones