Today in Wheeling History: January 5—Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, legendary labor organizer who addressed a mass protest at Wheeling’s Victoria Theatre in support of striking West Virginia miners during the Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike (1913).
On January 5, 1913, Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, already famous as the “Miner’s Angel” and a fearless national labor organizer, came to Wheeling to rally support for coal miners striking along Paint Creek and Cabin Creek in southern West Virginia. In response to the strike, coal operators had hired heavily armed Baldwin-Felts guards, who terrorized miners and their families and evicted them from company housing, while Governor William Glasscock’s declaration of martial law further intensified repression and violence. Outraged by these conditions, the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assembly organized a mass protest and fundraiser at Wheeling’s Victoria Theatre. More than 1,000 people filled the house to hear Mother Jones denounce the mine guards, the coal companies, and the use of troops against workers, and to demand a federal investigation of West Virginia’s coalfields. Her Wheeling appearance formed part of a larger campaign during the West Virginia Mine Wars, in which she crisscrossed the state giving fiery speeches, encouraging solidarity across unions, and publicizing brutality in the coalfields to a national audience. Only weeks later, she would be arrested and court-martialed for her role in the strike, further cementing her reputation as one of the era’s most uncompromising labor leaders.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/4z26tdhw), We Never Forget (https://tinyurl.com/2btjs2uk), National Park Service (https://tinyurl.com/jkrpm4vf), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/3drwahas)
Source: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, National Park Service, Google Maps
On January 5, 1913, Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, already famous as the “Miner’s Angel” and a fearless national labor organizer, came to Wheeling to rally support for coal miners striking along Paint Creek and Cabin Creek in southern West Virginia. In response to the strike, coal operators had hired heavily armed Baldwin-Felts guards, who terrorized miners and their families and evicted them from company housing, while Governor William Glasscock’s declaration of martial law further intensified repression and violence. Outraged by these conditions, the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assembly organized a mass protest and fundraiser at Wheeling’s Victoria Theatre. More than 1,000 people filled the house to hear Mother Jones denounce the mine guards, the coal companies, and the use of troops against workers, and to demand a federal investigation of West Virginia’s coalfields. Her Wheeling appearance formed part of a larger campaign during the West Virginia Mine Wars, in which she crisscrossed the state giving fiery speeches, encouraging solidarity across unions, and publicizing brutality in the coalfields to a national audience. Only weeks later, she would be arrested and court-martialed for her role in the strike, further cementing her reputation as one of the era’s most uncompromising labor leaders.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/4z26tdhw), We Never Forget (https://tinyurl.com/2btjs2uk), National Park Service (https://tinyurl.com/jkrpm4vf), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/3drwahas)
Source: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, National Park Service, Google Maps
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