The Speeches and Writings of Mother Jones

A seminal force in the early labor movement, Mary Harris Jones was famed for an oratory style that combined evangelical fervor and caustic irony. The 30 speeches reprinted here, delivered between 1901 and 1922 at conventions of the United Mine Workers Association and other public meetings, vividly chart her career: her role as UMWA International organizer, her intercession with President Wilson on behalf of striking Colorado coal miners, her crusade in support of the Mexican revolution, her affiliation with the Socialist Party and difficulties with the government. The talks provide a dramatic footnote to the history of organized labor in America. West Virginia University history professor Steel (The Correspondence of Mother Jones) supplies useful prefaces to each entry and a biographical directory. Less animated than the addresses but also of historical interest is a brief, closing selection of Mother Jones's essays culled from leftist journals. (June)