Vol. 2, No. 7
July 2015

 

Mother Jones Museum Kick Off and Open House

The successful Mother Jones Museum Open House on June 20th and 21st was made possible by our WWHP fundraiser. The Museum Open House followed the rededication of the Mother Jones Monument at the Union Miners' Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois, at which U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., recalled the legacy of Mother Jones.

 

At least 165 people streamed through the Museum. There were people from as far away as Washington state, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana. People came with treasures, such as the diary of a local coal miner, who noted the preparations and attendance at Mother Jones' funeral.

 

Our "Stand With Mother Jones" booth was a hit! Visitors were able to pick a Mother Jones quote on a picket sign and have their photo taken with her.

 

Fundraising and grant applications continue to raise funds for future museum exhibits.

 

..............................................................................................................................................

 

WWHP's Video Salute to the Cork  

Mother Jones Festival Committee

 

At the July monthly meeting, WWHP committee members made a video to be sent to the Cork (Ireland) Mother Jones Festival Committee. Participants included (back row) Sue Straus, Marsha Katz, Helen Ramirez-Odell, Joan Morris, and Amy Laiken; (front row) Margaret Fulkerson, Bridgid Duffy and Jackie Kirley. Our message:

 

"Greetings from the Working Women's History Project in Chicago. We salute the Cork

Mother Jones Festival Committee on your 4th annual event in honor of Mother Jones'

legacy. You have inspired us to carry on the spirit of Mother Jones through our

fundraising support of the Mother Jones Museum in Mount Olive, Illinois."

 

Plus three quotations from Mother Jones herself:

 

"Whatever the fight, don't be ladylike. God Almighty made the woman and the Rockefeller gang of thieves made the ladies."

 

"Always remember you ain't got a damn thing if you ain't got a union"

 

"Put the pirate out of business; If that won't do put them in jail."

 

Listen to the message here. 

 

 

..............................................................................................................................................

 

Exploring the Dangerous Trades:  

The Autobiography of Alice Hamilton MD

Excerpts of a review by Mary Wehrle

 

At the turn of the twentieth century, the risk of taking an industrial job was that you could be slowly poisoned to death at work. There were no laws to protect workers in factories, no OSHA, no workers' compensation. Dr. Alice Hamilton wanted to take on the problem of industrial poisoning, a new field and one that few worried about. Many victims were recent immigrants afraid to complain. Most did not know the risks. "The poor must take dangerous jobs, or have no jobs at all," she wrote.

 

Alice Hamilton was born in 1869 and was part of a generation of progressive women who took active roles in changing society for the better. She had a medical education from the University of Michigan, and spent over twenty years at Hull House, working with Jane Addams and Florence Kelley. At Hull House she got involved in the labor movement. She joined union strikers on picket lines. As a physician, she joined the birth-control movement through the Chicago Birth Control Committee.

 

Hamilton visited workplaces to understand the connection between the work and the toxins that killed people. In 1910 she was appointed by the governor to a commission to investigate occupational diseases in Illinois. She visited 300 workplaces, interviewed workers, and went to their homes to speak to them or to surviving relatives. She researched death records. She found Cook County Hospital filled with victims of industrial poisoning. With Florence Kelley in the 1920's she worked with the Consumers' League to help the "Radium Girls" who were dying from their work with radium-laden paint. The American Federation of Labor helped pressure for safety and compensation laws.

 

In 1911 Illinois passed a first attempt at compensation for industrial diseases caused by poisonous gases, fumes, and dust. The law was overturned by the Supreme Court and not replaced until 1936.

 

Dr. Hamilton became a committed New Dealer, serving as consultant to the United States Division of Labor Standards. Her work contributed to reforms in industrial hygiene laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act. Shortly after her death at age 101 the Occupational Safety and Health Act passed in 1970, a culmination of protective labor legislation, one of organized labor's greatest accomplishments.

 

..............................................................................................................................................

Like us on Facebook