An afternoon with Mother Jones

A full house in Elkins

Thank you to everyone who came out. A century on, the woman they called the most dangerous woman in America can still hold a room.

The most dangerous woman in America

Mary Harris "Mother Jones" (about 1837 to 1930) was an Irish immigrant who, within a single week in 1867, lost her husband and all four of her children to yellow fever. After losing her home and dressmaking business in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, she poured her considerable energy and talent into fighting for better working conditions for children, coal miners, railroad workers, and textile workers.

She became a driving force in the United Mine Workers' organizing efforts in West Virginia in the early twentieth century. Her tenacity and fiery speeches endeared her to the miners, and her work helped put West Virginia at the vanguard of the American labor movement. She was on the ground during the strikes along the New River Gorge, Paint Creek, Cabin Creek, and in the days before the Battle of Blair Mountain.

History you can talk back to

History Alive! is a program of the West Virginia Humanities Council that lets audiences meet the people who shaped our history. Humanities scholars research their characters deeply, drawing on journals, letters, speeches, official records, and autobiographies, then step into the role. When the performance ended, the floor opened up, and the questions kept coming.

Karen Vuranch of Fayetteville is a storyteller, actor, and educator who has performed her portrayal of Mother Jones for audiences across the country. It was a rare chance to see it close to home.

Learn more about History Alive! and the West Virginia Humanities Council.