A virtual museum and education site about the amazing labor agitator, Mother Jones
Cork Mother Jones Festival 2013
Death of Mother Jones
This author of the song is unknown, but it was first recorded by Gene Autry in 1931.
The version we use in the film is by BuckyHalker, www.buckyhalker.com
The world today's in mourning
O'er the death of Mother Jones
Gloom and sorrow hover
Around the miners' homes.
This grand old champion of labor
Was known in every land;
She fought for right and justice,
She took a noble stand.
O'er the hills and through the valley
In ev'ry mining town;
Mother Jones was ready to help them,
She never turned them down.
On front with the striking miners
She always could be found;
And received a hearty welcome
In ev'ry mining town.
She was fearless of every danger,
She hated that which was wrong;
She never gave up fighting
Until her breath was gone.
This noble leader of labor
Has gone to a better land;
While the hard-working miners,
They miss her guiding hand.
May the miners all work together
To carry out her plan;
And bring back better conditions
For every laboring man.
Lyrics from the book Only a Miner, by Archie Green, University of Illinois Press
Base of Mother Jones Monument, Mt. Olive, Illinois
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Photo Courtesy Saul Schneiderman, who was instrumental in getting the Mother Jones marker at the Burgess Farm in Maryland, where Mother Jones spent her last years.
