Mother Jones Court-Martial: 1913

Soon known as Mother Jones—for she considered all American workers her family—Mary traveled and spoke constantly, living in shantytowns and tent villages. In fact, she lived, she said, "wherever there is a fight."

By 1890, Mother Jones was helping organize the United Mine Workers of America (UMW). The year 1902 saw her leading Pennsylvania coalminers' wives who wielded mops and brooms to drive away strikebreakers. When the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded in 1905, she was the only woman among the 27 signers of its manifesto. By 1911 she was a paid organizer for the UMW.