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America's Joan of Arc, Mother Jones

By Pat Gallinagh

St. Patrick's Day is here again and it's time to raise a glass
To America's Joan of Arc who was also an Irish lass
Her birth name was Mary Harris and she came from County Cork
When her family fled the famine, they took the North American fork

She was raised in Canada to be a teacher and a seamstress
As a young woman she moved south to the States in search of success
For a while she did both sew and teach before she headed south
Where she met and married George Jones and a family began to sprout

The family and four kids survived the Civil War but not the yellow fever
Which took him and the four children, and a widow it did leave her
She never remarried and for decades sought to find her calling
It was Coxey's Army march on Washington that she found so enthralling

From 1894 until her death she was a spokesman for the working man
And went from coast to coast urging workers to take a fighter's stand
She had the silver tongue that the Irish are much noted for
And could be both profane and profound and passionate to the core

She could talk to millionaires and presidents and never lose her poise
Or swear and laugh with workers in a barroom and be heard above the noise
She had no fear of death or the goons that management sent
To silence her and those who followed her urgings not to relent

She was at the scene of some of labor's bloodiest fights for their rights
She was at the Ludlow Massacre and the West Virginia coal miners' strikes
She spent many a night in jail but nothing could break her will
For the causes she fought till her dying breath with all her rhetorical skill

She was a pragmatist, not an idealist, and knew when to compromise
A half a loaf was better than none, but never took her eye off the grand prize
Of better pay, safer jobs, shorter hours, and the right to organize
And in time all her goals for the working man would eventually be realized

She exemplified all the traits the Irish are known so well for—
Courage, strength, persistence, and combative to the core
So as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day, let us not forget
That Celtic women, like their men, possess all the above traits forthwith

Author's Note

The inspiration for this poem came from reading a book called Mother Jones, The Most Dangerous Woman in America and learning that, just like her mother, Mary Harris Jones was an Irish immigrant who was strong, resilient, courageous, determined, feisty, but also caring and compassionate—just like my mother.

The Harrises fled the famine in 1842, first to Canada and then later to the States. She was trained to be a teacher and a seamstress and moved around the Midwest before heading south, where she met her husband Robert Jones and had four children.

They survived the Civil War but not the Yellow Fever, which killed her husband and all four children. Left a widow, she returned to Chicago and opened a dress shop but lost it all in the Great Chicago Fire.

The "Knights of Labor" helped her recover and got her interested in helping the working man. For nearly three decades, she helped organize miners and other working men. She urged workers to fight for what was theirs and took part in some of the bloodiest labor disputes, including the Ludlow Massacre, which took place in 1914 in Colorado—25 were killed, including 11 children—and two bloody battles in West Virginia at Paint Creek and the Cabin Creek coal miners' strikes, where more than 50 lost their lives.

She dodged bullets, clubs, and barricades, and spent many a night in jail, but never lost her will to fight for the miners' right to organize. She is remembered by organized labor as America’s Joan of Arc and by the Irish around the world as a symbol of strength, determination, and the never-say-die spirit of the Celts.

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