Mother Jones Speaks: Speeches and Writings of a Working-Class Fighter [Paperback]

Mother Jones (Author), Philip S. Foner (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1983

From the end of the Civil War until her death in 1930 at the age of 100, Mother Jones was a tireless fighter for the working class. This collection chronicles decades of labor battlesfrom the coalfields of West Virginia to the steel mills of Chicago and the garment shops of New York.

Preface by Philip S. Foner, photo, chronology, notes, index.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This collection works. It works because Foner has provided what is needed to understand and appreciate Mother Jones. Each speech is set in context; each document is followed by explanatory notes. The notes [are] almost as valuable as the documents themselves.... a rich, revealing, and superbly edited collection." -- Illinois Historical Journal

"A veritable archive of the legendary radical labor organizer Mary Harris Jones.... The book contains the fiery radical's speeches, congressional testimony, articles, interviews with journalists, and a selection of her letters. Foner places each...in context with excellent short introductions.... He has done a service for students of labor history. Recommended for academic and large public libraries." ---- Library Journal

"Foner emphasizes the constancy of Jones's commitment to socialism, describes her effectiveness as a union organizer, and challenges feminist contentions that Mother Jones was opposed to or, at best, uninterested in the women's rights movement.... Recommended for large public libraries and college libraries at all levels." ---- Choice

"This collection works. It works because Foner has provided what is needed to understand and appreciate Mother Jones. Each speech is set in context; each document is followed by explanatory notes. The notes [are] almost as valuable as the documents themselves.... a rich, revealing, and superbly edited collection." ---- Illinois Historical Journal

Product Details

• Paperback: 934 pages
• Publisher: Pathfinder Press (January 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873488105
• ISBN-13: 978-0873488105
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,158,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mother Jones: Link Hands in the Mighty Struggle, March 16, 2002

By 

David Salner (Frederick, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mother Jones Speaks: Collected Writings and Speeches (Hardcover)

Coal miners and retirees are still dying of Black Lung disease without proper medical care or compensation, and Black Lung widows are once again marching on Washington. These are good reasons to read this inspiring volume, which captures the historic voice of the coal miners-Mother Jones. A woman of the working class, she took part in almost every major battle by coal miners from the 1890s through the 1920s. She declared her solidarity with all victims of class rule from New England to Japan and left the world with many famous dictums of the struggle: "Don't mourn, organize!" or "I'm not here to beg , I want to fight and take what belongs to us!" She joined social struggles like the fight against child labor. When the newspapers refused to cover a strike involving child textile workers because the mill owners held stock in the newspapers, Mother Jones declared: "Well, I've got stock in these little children and I'll arrange a little publicity." And she did. While the U.S. was waging war on Mexico, Mother Jones was meeting with Pancho Villa to promote working class solidarity. We are also reminded that the task she described is still our task today: "Never before in human history were men and women called upon to link hands in the mighty battle for the emancipation of the working class from the robbing class." Mother Jones proves that you can't count yourself or any one else out-Mother Jones didn't become an activist until she was in her fifties. This is the total book by and about Mother Jones, with valuable background material by Philip Foner, the noted historian.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courage, honesty and inspiration, March 5, 2002

By 

Harvey (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Jones Speaks: Collected Speeches & Writings (Paperback)

A wonderful collection: nearly 40 speeches by Mother Jones, the tireless champion of workers in struggle at the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th. Also includes articles by Jones written for labor and socialist papers of the time, press reports about her activities, and dozens of letters she wrote to other labor and socialist leaders.

Mother Jones traveled incessantly, giving speeches and organizing coal miners and copper miners, textile workers, construction workers. She exposed and decried the abuses of the capitalist system. She stood up to the richest employers, their cops, courts, the National Guard, the U.S. Congress and presidents. She championed workers framed-up and victimized in the course of many struggles-- including insurgent fighter from Mexico during its 1910 revolution.

Her courage, honesty and perseverance should be a better-known example for workers, farmers and young people today. She has lots of short, snappy observations I find useful to raise at work, to help get others thinking a bit. And I found her letters, which reflect her striving to promote the most uncompromising, militant and class-conscious wing of unions and the Socialist Party, especially interesting.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring example for women--and men!, March 26, 2002

By 

hatlanta "hollyatlanta" (Marietta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Jones Speaks: Collected Writings and Speeches (Hardcover)

Read this book and you'll learn about the life of a heroic woman, but also about the bitter struggles working people fought in the US a hundred years ago. You won't get this history on the History Channel!
Pathfinder Press is dedicated to, among other things, publishing the speeches and writings of revolutionary figures like Mother Jones. So, in this book, you won't read some professor's interpretation of her, you'll read her own words. And what words she spoke! Her speeches and letters spring from the page full of passion and courage.
She went to where the miners were fighting and dying and stood up to the cops and the goons who tried to intimidate her. She was braver and bolder than most (male) labor leaders of her time, and in every way a superior human being to those who claim to "lead" the labor unions today.