If you have ever driven I-55 from Rockford to St. Louis, you’ve probably seen a small billboard near exit 44 that advertises the Mother Jones monument and burial site. Like most people, I’m guessing that you’ve driven past this. While Mother Jones died almost 100 years ago, this resilient woman is worth remembering.
Forced to leave Ireland during the Great Famine, Mary Jones lost her entire family to yellow fever. Soon after, her dress shop burned in the great Chicago fire. But Mary was a survivor. She became a union organizer, orchestrating protests and strikes with the United Mine Workers, becoming in the eyes of corporate America, “the most dangerous woman in America.”
Mother Jones, as she was known by her grateful union members, did not let old age slow her down. She especially fought hard for child labor laws. As an educator, I appreciate her efforts to see that children went to school, not to the mills or mines.
Mother Jones died in 1930 at 100 and was buried in the Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Illinois. A few years later, miners saved enough money to erect a gravestone befitting one of the greatest and most unlikely union leaders of all time.
As a union member, I decided to pay homage to Mother Jones a few years ago, and I stopped at her gravesite. If, like me, you’re grateful for better wages and working conditions that unions brought to America, I encourage you to take exit 44.
