The recording took place on her self-proclaimed 100th birthday. Historians point to a birthday of August 1, 1837 instead of May 1, 1830. Regardless, the voice and the passion is there at an advanced age – just months prior to her death.
and I long to see the day when labor will have the destinies of the nation in her own hands and she will stand a united force and show the world what the workers can do…
Once called the “grandmother of agitators” this skilled union organizer lead countless fights for coal miners and child labor laws. She was also once called the “most dangerous woman in America” for her ability to fight against corporate abuses.
Her effectiveness also allowed her to appeal to reason and gut-wrenching emotions on even the richest of people in her time. She meet face to face with Standard Oil’s John Rockefeller Jr., convincing him to visit coal mines in Colorado and introduce reforms her and workers advocated. Sadly, it came after the Ludlow Massacre killing 19 workers at the hands of the Colorado National Guard.
Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living. – Mother Jones