Women's History Month Spotlight

Mary Harris, more widely known as Mother Jones, was an Irish American schoolteacher and labor organizer who shed light on the plight of child workers in Pennsylvania. At the time children as young as 12 years old were allowed to work. The lack of enforcement and the extreme rate of poverty led many families to make a tough decision to send this children to work.

Mother Jones worked feverishly to demand the truth about these working conditions but was met with opposition from employers who had investments and control of local newspapers. She instead she organized the Children's Crusade where child workers from mines and factories marched from Philadelphia to Oyster Bay, NY.

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