Mother Jones Monument, (sculpture).

Mother Jones Monument, (sculpture).

Graf, Carl C., 1890-1947, sculptor.

Mother Jones Monument, (sculpture).

1936. Dedicated Oct. 11, 1936.

Digital Reference:

Bronze on a Minnesota pink granite base.

Oval relief plaque of Mother Jones: H. 3 ft. x W. 2 ft.; Standing miners, each: 5 ft. x 18 in. x 21 in.; Base: 22 x 18 x 28 ft.

(On Mother Jones relief plaque, by figure's proper left shoulder, and on the integral base behind the miner's feet:) CARL C. GRAF (On front of upper base:) WE COUNT IT DEATH TO FALTER NOT TO DIE/ERECTED AND DEDICATED OCT 12, 1936. IN HONOR AND TO THE EVER-/LASTING MEMORY OF MARY "MOTHER" JONES. "GENERAL" ALEXANDER BRADLEY/AND THE MARTYRS OF THE VIRDEN RIOT OF 1898. BY THE MEMBERS OF/THE PROGRESSIVE MINERS OF AMERICA AND THE WOMEN'S AUXILIARY OF/THE PROGRESSIVE MINERS OF AMERICA. ASSISTED BY LOYAL AND/DEVOUT FRIENDS, SYMPATHIZERS, AND LABOR AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS./

/MARY "MOTHER" JONES/WHEN THE SUN IN ALL HIS STATE,/ILLUMED THE EASTERN SKIES/SHE PASSED THROUGH GLORY'S MORNING GATE/AND WALKED IN PARADISE / SLEEP THE SLEEP OF THE NOBLE BLEST/FOR IN LIFE YOU SACRIFICED AND GAVE/WE PLEDGE TO FILL YOUR LAST REQUEST/LET NO TRAITOR BREATHE O'ER MY GRAVE signed

Bas-relief oval portrait of Mother Jones on an obelisk, flanked on each side by a life-size statue of a miner dressed in their working gear. Memorial rests on base with three steps or tiers. On the front of the bottom step are five memorial plaques, one inscribed for Mary "Mother" Jones, the other four for individuals who died in the Virden Massacre, October 12, 1898 -- Joseph Gitterle, E. Kaemmerer, E. W. Smith, and General Alexander Bradley. There are also two larger plaques on each side of the monument, bearing the names of twenty-one miners and the dates they were killed.

Portrait female -- Jones, Mary -- Bust

Occupation -- Industry -- Mining

History -- United States -- Virden Massacre

Disaster -- Accident -- Mine Accident

Homage -- Gitterle, Joseph

Homage -- Kaemmerer, E.

Homage -- Smith, E. W.

Homage -- Bradley, Alexander

Dress -- Accessory -- Helmet

Object -- Tool -- Axe

Object -- Tool -- Hammer

Dress -- Accessory -- Eye wear

Outdoor Sculpture -- Illinois -- Mt. Olive

Administered by Progressive Mine Workers of America,

Located Union Miner's Cemetery, Mt. Olive, Illinois 62069

IAS files contain a copy of Dale Fetherling's, "Mother Jones: the Miner's Angel," Carbondale/Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1974, discussing the initiative to erect the memorial. Progressive Miners Local 35 elected a ten-member Mother Jones Memorial Committee and began soliciting funds in the fall of 1934 for the monument.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Illinois survey, 1992.

Fetherling, Dale, "Mother Jones: the Miner's Angel," Carbondale/Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1974.

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Autumn 1969, vol. 62, no. 3.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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