•September 4, 2019•
By Phil Luciano
Of the Journal Star of Peoria

From organizing unions to effecting labor laws, Illinois has played a vital historical role as a flashpoint — sometimes involving violence and danger — for workplace fairness. These are some of the key figures and events of that struggle.
Mother Jones
She lost her own family, so she adopted a new one, a huge one, lifting up the cause of labor.
In the process, Mother Jones became perhaps the greatest labor force in the history of Illinois.
An Irish immigrant and dressmaker, Mary Harris landed in Memphis, Tennessee, where she met and wed George Jones, a foundry worker and union supporter. They’d had four children by 1867, when an epidemic of yellow fever claimed the entire household, save Mary. The 30-year-old widow relocated to Chicago to start anew with a dress shop, but it was lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
She scraped to get by, sometimes sewing piecework for wealthy Chicago families. As she’d gaze out their picture windows, she gained a keen eye and soft heart for disenfranchised.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.