Mother Jones: Labor Leader
Search in google:
Mother Jones: Labor Leader recounts the life of Mother Jones in dramatic, graphic novel format. Mary Jones, known to coal miners as Mother Jones, was a daring labor right's advocate in the late 1800s. Her courage and powerful speeches motivated many laborers to form unions and strike for fair treatment and wages. Mother Jones was jailed many times for her protests, even at the age of 76. Inside this book, readers will encounter the events, people, and actions that shaped the life of Mother Jones.Children's LiteratureAs Mary, a young girl living in Ireland the year the potato crop was destroyed, the future Mother Jones learned first-hand about unfairness. Her family emigrated to Canada in the 1850s, where she was able to attend teachers' college. A teaching job then took her to Tennessee, where she married an iron molder and had four children. Her husband, George Jones, urged his fellow workers to join the union, but in 1867 he and all of their children died from yellow fever (a tragedy glossed over in the text). Deciding to carry on her husband's work, Mary became a passionate advocate for workers' rights. For over sixty years, she lobbied throughout the United States, even landing in jail several times. Her unorthodox approaches (arming women with brooms and mops to fight off scabs; marching children to President Theodore Roosevelt's home) made her all the more loved by workers...and feared by those in power. Her unflagging determination to see workers of all ages (especially children) treated fairly, paved the way for minimum wage and the outlawing of child labor. This entry in the "Graphic Library Biographies" series is a well-researched effort documenting a worthy heroine and includes the helpful feature of highlighting direct quotations in yellow. Unfortunately, the unflattering illustrations have far less appeal than the subject herself. Furthermore, this heroic woman deserves a more thorough exploration than this format inherently allows; but if this book generates further interest in Mother Jones, it has served its purpose well.
Working Class Struggles 4Mops and Miners' Wives 10The Working Children 14The Most Dangerous Woman in America 20More about Mother Jones 28Glossary 30Internet Sites 30Read More 31Bibliography 31Index 32
