In the 1880s Mary Harris Jones became known as Mother Jones because of her fiery stand for American coal miners. Although born in County Cork, Ireland her family emigrated to the United States. In Memphis, Tennessee she married an ironworker and had children. In 1867 her husband and children died in an epidemic. She later moved and opened a dressmaking shop in Chicago, but in 1871 she lost everything in the great Chicago fire. After losing everything, she turned to the Knights of Labor. Mary liked their campaign to improve working conditions so much that she joined the fight. By the 1880s Jones herself had become a highly visible figure traveling all over to fight for others. At Kensington, Pennsylvania over 10,000 children left their jobs at the mill due to harsh working conditions. Mary Harris “Mother” Jones took up their cause and began the campaign for child labor rights. To show the harsh conditions she created a group of young workers for a public demonstration. Children with fingers cut off, hands crushed or maimed came to testify of the hard labor. In 1901 President Roosevelt began even raising issues of child labor in his State of the Union addresses to Congress. Visit Clio for more information and videos.