"The Greatest woman agitator of our time was Mother Jones. Arrested, deported, held in custody by the militia, hunted and threatened by police and gunmen-she carried on fearlessly for 60 years. I first saw her in the summer of 1908, speaking at a Bronx open-air meeting. She was giving the "city folks" hell. Why weren't we helping the miners of the West? Why weren't we backing up the Mexican people against Diaz? We were "white-livered rabbits who never put our feet on Mother Earth," she said. Her description of the bullpen, where the miners were herded by federal troops during a Western miners' strike, and of the bloodshed and suffering was so vivid that, being slightly dizzy from standing so long, I fainted. She stopped in the middle of a fiery appeal. "Get the poor child some water!" she said, and went on with her speech. I was terribly embarrassed."
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Immigrants to the United StatesLabor activistsWomen activists from the United StatesDemocratic socialistsWomen from Ireland
Original Language: English
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Sources
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, The Rebel Girl: An Autobiography, My First Life (1955)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mother_Jones
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Mother Jones
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (August 1, 1837 – November 30, 1930), born in Cork, Ireland, was a prominent American socialist, labor and community organizer, and a founder of the Industrial Workers of the World.
29 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Mother Jones →
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