Liberator in History: Mother Jones

If history is fixed in the past, some of those who shaped it remain powerfully present. Mary Harris “Mother” Jones is one of them.

She lost nearly everything early in life—her husband and four children to yellow fever, then her dress shop to the Great Chicago Fire. But from that wreckage, she rose with fierce conviction. She didn’t wall herself off from the pain; she turned toward the suffering of others. In mining towns, cotton mills, rail yards, and street corners, she stood shoulder to shoulder with the working poor, calling them to organize, to strike, to demand their humanity be recognized—and liberate themselves from indignities and sorrows.

They called her “Mother” not just because of her age, but because of the compassion she exuded. She comforted child laborers forced into twelve-hour shifts. She outmaneuvered Pinkerton spies and was arrested countless times. She marched with coal miners’ wives, helped found the Industrial Workers of the World, and famously declared, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

We can only wonder what depth of passion drove Mother Jones to galvanize the poor so relentlessly. But today, her voice emboldens us across time and space to be that vigorous, new generation of activists who guard our liberties by standing firm against their derailment. 

Passing at the age of 93 in 1930, she didn’t live to see all the rights she fought for become law, but many of them did. Restrictions on child labor. Limits on working hours. The right to unionize. A basic recognition that workers are people, not parts to be worn down and thrown away. Now, as deregulation takes center stage in Congress’ 2025 reconciliation bill, Mother Jones’ heart streams forth from the ethers saying, no, her hard-won protections will not be undone.

As a stalwart liberator who moved a nation, today Mother Jones reminds us that corporations reap record profits while states roll back child labor laws, and workers are dissuaded from or punished for organizing. She cautions us that humane treatment, dignity, and liberties aren’t guaranteed—they must be fought for, protected, and passed on. She wags her finger once more, looks us in the eye, “You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.”