Mary Harris (Mother Jones)

My hero is Mary Harris. People called her Mother Jones. She is my hero because she fought for the immigrants who were put to work in factories and shops. She especially fought for the children who had to work in the filthy dirty factories where they got many diseases. She was arrested many times for talking and protesting about this.

When she was a young girl, her family moved from Cork, Ireland, to America. Her father worked as a laborer until his death. She worked as a school teacher and dressmaker until her marriage. In 1867, her husband and four children died of yellow fever. This made her fear for the other children that are dying, so she stayed in town and started nursing and helping the sick children until the epidemic was over.

She then moved to Chicago and opened a dressmaking shop and she began attending the meeting of the Knights of Labor. She started catering the rich, so she became sensitive for the balance of wealth in the Chicago society and the Knights of Labor taught her about the logistics of labor organizing. So when her dress shop burned in the Chicago Fire of '71, she didn't not lose something to do. She began agitating for labor. For the next 50 years, she traveled through the country, speaking and organizing. She worked very hard for what she believed in and that is why she is my hero!