Mother Jones Speaks

From the end of the Civil War until her death in 1930 at the age of 100, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was a tireless fight for the working class.

Declaring "I reside wherever the workers are fighting the robbers," she participated in battles together with coal miners in Wsr Virginia, garment worker in New York, steelworkers in Chicago, streetcar workers in Texas, brewery workers in Milwaukee, and countless others. For her activities she frequently victimized by the bosses' system of justice, and spent time in many a prison cell. A prosecutor in West Virginia termed her "the most dangerous woman in America."

Much of her efforts went into the great battles to organize the United Mine Workers of America. Throughout the coalfields of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Alabama, and elsewhere, she joined with miners facing cops and troops, hired thugs and special deputies, judges and prosecutors, bringing to bear the power of the union.

This collection, edited by historian Philip Foner, includes her speeches, interviews, and letters.

- From the back cover