Who was Mother Jones?

“They brought contests with police, militia, courts, and soldiers. They involved prison sentences, massacres, and hardships without end. Wherever the fight was the fiercest and danger the greatest, Mother Jones was present to aid and cheer. In both the day and the night, in the poor villages and at the lonely cabin on the mountain side, Mother Jones always appeared in time of need. She had a strong sense of drama. She staged every detail of a contest. Her actors were real men and women and children, and she often reached the hearts of employers where all others failed. She was never awed by jails. Over and over she was sentenced by courts; she never ran away. She stayed in prison until her enemies opened the doors. Her personal non-resistance was far more powerful than any appeal to force.”

— Clarence Darrow, in his Introduction to: The Autobiography of Mother Jones. Dover Edition, 2004, unabridged republication of the work originally published in 1925 by Charles H. Kerr & Company, Chicago, IL.

For the best biography of Mother Jones, please consult Elliot J. Gorn’s Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001.