September 2nd is Labor Day. This holiday is celebrated on the First Monday of September. We will start with ‘Mother Jones-the miners’ Angel’ by Dale Fetherling, published 1974 by Southern Illinois University Press. This is a very good book. She was an important force in early 1900’s support of unions. Mary Harris married George Jones, a foundry worker and union activist, and had 4 kids. Whole family died from Yellow Fever except Mary. She moved up to Chicago to start a dress shop which burned down in Great Chicago Fire.
She later moved to supporting labor, some say she was ‘the face of labor’, looking for fair wages and safe working conditions. Illinois was big battleground for labor, especially for miners. At her gravesite at the Union Miners’ cemetery, in Mount Olive, Illinois, is a plaque with her quote ‘I’m not a humanitarian. I’m a hell raiser.’
I then have a very interesting book, “Bloody Williamson” by Paul M. Angle, 1977. This spellbinding book covers the hostilities of a small town in southern Illinois, beginning with the violent struggles with labor organizing local coal miners, then conflicts with KKK, and ending with gang warfare between Charley Berger and the Shelton Brothers.
Lastly, I have “‘Only a Miner-studies in coal-mining songs” by Archie Green, published in 1972 by the University of Illinois. This is great book of folklore and culture of miners through songs and oral history.
The book has a lot of information of Merle Travis, who wrote many mining songs. One of his most famous, became a billboard chart topper sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford-‘Sixteen Tons’.
It is ironic that I am celebrating Labor Day with books trying to promote union support today, when I spent my life as management in retail. I then worked every Labor Day. I guess I too “sold my soul to the company store…”
Librarytomes 