“When the last call comes for me to take my final rest, will the miners see that I get a resting place in the same clay that shelters the miners who gave up their lives on the hills of Virden, Illinois on the morning of October 12th, 1898, for their heroic sacrifice? They are responsible for Illinois being the best organized labor state in America. I hope it will be my consolation when I pass away to feel I sleep under the clay with those brave boys.†Mother Jones said this on November 12, 1923. Seven years later, her wish was honored.
The Union Miners’ Cemetery in Mount Olive is the final resting place of Mary Harris “Mother†Jones. The legendary UMWA organizer is buried with “her boysâ€â€”the coal miners she championed tire lessly until her death at age 100 in 1930. A 22-foot-high granite obelisk (a four-sided shaft of stone that rises to a point) features a medallion of Mother Jones, who is guarded on either side by bronze statues of coal miners holding their sledges. The cemetery is linked historically to the Virden Massacre of 1898, when seven miners and five guards were killed. The bloodbath was triggered when Chicago-Virden Coal Company’s armed guards fired on striking miners to break the newly formed union. The union prevailed.
[tags]mother jones, mary harris jones, iww, wobblies, get your kicks on route sixty-six, the union makes us strong, I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night[/tags]
3 Comments
Frank, her autobiography is online.
Wow it’s great to know that Mother Jones is still celebrated in today’s America. What would she make of the Patriot Act and the War on Terror, I wonder?
She was a heroine of mine long before I myself acquired my (married) name Jones. My battered copy of Mother Jones Speaks has a place on the shelf by my desk, and has been an inspiration for over 20 years.
I found your blog while looking for comments about writer Sara Paretsky…
But I’m now adding your blog to my must-read list.
You may be interested that some years ago I was in Sweden where I visited Joe Hill house in the town of Gavle.
Kate Jones, Wales UK
Thanks for this post.
However, looking at the history it’s important to note that the monument was erected by the Progressive Miners of America (PMA), an alternative to John L. Lewis’ United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).
The creation of the monument was contentious. In fact, Lewis sought an injunction to prevent Jones remains from being moved to the new monument. The PMA placed armed guards around the monument in the evenings prior to its unveiling for fear that the UMWA might attempt to blow it up.
And while the historical ties to the Virden martyrs are very important, it’s equally important to note that the names of 21 PMA martyrs of the 1930′s Illinois mine war are inscribed on the side of the monument.
The PMA embraced Mother Jones as a symbol of independent, rank-and-file unionism, the same spirit that guided the Virden miners in 1898, and the antithesis of Lewis’ UMWA.
You can learn more about the Illinois mine war at http://minewar.org.