I would rather raise hell in this country than anywhere else on earth.
-Mother Jones
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Monday February 8, 1915
New York, New York - Mother Jones Takes on the Society Woman of the Colony Club
Mrs. J. Borden Harriman
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On the evening of February 3rd, Mother Jones visited the Colony Club, New York City's most fashionable women's club. She went at the invitation of
Mrs. J. Borden Harriman, the only woman to sit on the
Commission on Industrial Relations. Mrs. Harriman must now surely regret extending that invitation for the very next day Mother appeared at the hearings of the industrial commission and gave her opinion of the Colony Club and its denizens.
She berated them as "scandal cats" and "parasites." She noted that they walked right by the men shoveling snow outside their door without noticing their cold bare hands or thinly clad bodies. Once inside, the women displayed their fine gowns and bejeweled necks, wrists, and fingers. She said the smell of their perfume suffocated her and she made her escape as quickly as she could.
Needless to say, the Society Woman have responded most unfavorably to the criticism of Mother Jones. And the controversy continues to be published across the nation.
The vexation of the Society Women notwithstanding, we soon find Mother back where she belongs, with the working men and women of America. She spoke to members of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union advising them on a few good uses for hatpins. She declared that if their demands are not met then they should strike, all 35,000 of them. As for the protocol of peace, she said that it is not they, but their employers, who have already broken with the protocol.
From the Chicago Day Book of February 4, 1915:
"MOTHER" JONES SEES RECORD BUNCH OF SCANDAL CATS
New York, Feb. 4.-"Mother" Jones veteran labor agitator, has investigated New York's fashionable Colony club, at Madison av. and 30th st. She went there last night at the invitation of Mrs. J. Borden Harriman, member of the federal commission on industrial relations. Today she was bubbling over with her experiences.
[She said:]
I saw the biggest bunch of women parasites and scandal cats ever gotten together under one roof...Five hundred dollar hats, wonderfully feathered, adorned empty heads of women who know nothing of how the other half lives. Their fingers were encircled with jewels worth a king's ransom. And not a single one of these parasites knew anything useful. They were ornamental dolls-mannikins who walked and talked but said nothing.
And outside there were men shoveling snow, their hands bare and their clothing thin. Yet there was not the slightest sympathy expressed anywhere for these men.
I got out as fast as I could. The smell of the perfume sickened and suffocated me.
[photograph added]
From The Washington Times of February 5, 1915:
CLUBWOMEN VEXED AT MOTHER JONES
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Society Leaders Say Charges of Miners' Champion Are Foolish.
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A coach carrying Society Women leaves the Colony Club.
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NEW YORK, Feb. 5.-"Mother" Jones visited the fashionable Colony Club, and here are some of the views she expressed:
The members of the Colony Club are a bunch of parasites and scandal cats. They were overdressed and covered with jewels.
The trouble with those women is that everything is on the outside and nothing inside. I wouldn't live there for a million dollars.
Members of the Colony Club took issue with "Mother" Jones and defended New York clubwomen.
Mrs. Egerton L. Winthrop, jr., said:
If the members were parasites and scandal cats I would not be one of the governors. I am sorry "Mother" Jones criticizes us, because she has done much good.
Mrs. Payne Whitney said:
I am not concerned one way or the other with what "Mother" Jones says of us or thinks of us.
Mrs. Gilbert Montague said:
"Mother" Jones' statements are foolish. New York clubwomen are not "empty-headed," and they are doing a great amount of good.
Clubwomen Are Indignant.
The "tempest in a teapot" which "Mother" Jones, the venerable labor agitator, started yesterday threatened to brew into a real storm last night when the clubwomen of the city read the uncomplimentary things that had been said about them.
"Mother" Jones visited the Colony Club Wednesday night at the invitation of Mrs. J. Borden Harriman, the president. Officially, the Colony Club ignored the attack; but some of the members indignant at the injustice of the harsh remarks of their critic, have sharply replied to her.
"Mother" Jones began her Colony Club criticism when she arrived at the hearing of the industrial commission yesterday. She motioned the reporters to be seated, and waving her white-mittened hands in the air, began:
A big flunky opened the door, and when I got inside a maid rushed at me with a chair and made me sit down. But I quickly made her understand I didn't require andy attention.
Women Were "Overdressed."
I looked around, and everywhere I saw women covered with jewels. They were overdressed and underdressed at the same time. It seemed to me they had everything outside and nothing inside. They were talking about their gowns, the theater, the opera, and the new books. I didn't hear them say a word about doing anything to help humanity.
Those women are parasites and scandal cats. The glamour of their fine dresses and jewelry was too much for me, and I got out as quickly as I could. I wouldn't stay there for a million dollars.
Mrs. Gilbert Montague, in refutation of "Mother" Jones' charges, said yesterday:
I have been at the Colony Club many times and I never heard any of the members talking scandal or gossiping about the theater or the opera or their clothes. In fact, I don't believe I ever heard any of these subjects mentioned there.
Whenever I have been present the women talked about civic affairs and important happenings in the world. A great many of the prominent women of the city are members of the Colony Club, and they are deeply interested in all sorts of civic work. I think the fact that the women's department of the National Civic Federation is composed largely of members of the Colony Club speaks well for their intelligence.
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[photograph added]
From Pennsylvania's Allentown Leader of February 6, 1915:
"Mother" Jones, famous woman labor agitator, who has lived in all the mining camps of the west among men who never dreamed of society luxury as it is known in New York, was invited to the Colony Club, the millionaire women's club of New York City, by Mrs. J. Borden Harriman, the woman member of the Industrial Relations Commission, which had recently heard her on labor conditions. The colony is the richest and most gorgeous women's club in the United States, perhaps in the world. Scores of women worth great fortunes and scores more whose husbands have fortunes famous the world over are members.
This is what "Mother" Jones had to say about the club after her visit, and she certainly shocked New York society women:
I wouldn't live at the Colony Club for a million dollars.
The women who go there are nothing but parasites. They are a lot of d____d cats.
They wear furs and burbelows and expensive hats. All they own is on the outside of their heads; there is nothing inside.
Never again.
When I went in a great big flunky in a gorgeous uniform opened the door for me and set me in the reception room. I felt like a fool.
There were a lot of women around and I just sat and looked at them. I never saw the equal in my life.
There they sat and talked of clubs and theatres and clothes and money. Beautiful hats they had on their heads, but that was all. The insides were empty. I could have told 'em about a club that would be better for them.
From The New York Times of February 7, 1915:
DRESSMAKERS TO STRIKE.
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Mother Jones Tells Them About Her Trusty Hatpin.
"Mother" Jones aroused great enthusiasm last night at the Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory, where 7,000 members of the Ladies' Waist and Dress Makers Union voted to disregard the protocol and strike unless demands were granted by their employers.
[Mother Jones said:]
I would rather raise hell in this country than anywhere else on earth...I have just fought through a sixteen months strike in Colorado and it ended in our forcing John D. Rockefeller to admit that we were right.
I have been up against armed mercenaries in labor troubles all over the country, but this old woman with a hatpin has scared them. I can go into any city of the country and no Mayor or Governor can stop me as long as I pay my fare.
The demands were for the registration of the ownership of factories, to compel factories under the same ownership to treat their employes equally well; for a minimum scale of wages; for uniform pay books in all factories so that violations of agreement can be easily discovered; for the right to investigate factories, to see whether union rules are being complied with, and for the registration of novices so that they may not be kept on a lower wage rate for an excessive period of time.
The speakers held that the employers had violated the protocol and that, if these demands could not be enforced, the 35,000 members of the union should strike.
[photograph added]
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SOURCES
The Day Book
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Feb 4, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
The Washington Times
(Washington, District of Columbia)
-Feb 5, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
The Allentown Leader
(Allentown, Pennsylvania)
-Feb 6, 1915
(also source for image)
http://www.newspapers.com/...
The New York Times
(New York, New York)
-Feb 7, 1915
http://query.nytimes.com/...
IMAGES
Mrs. J. Borden Harriman
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Mother Jones
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...
Coach of Society Women at Colony Club
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Mother Jones, Raising Hell
http://www.laborheritage.org/...
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The Spirit of Mother Jones - Andy Irvine
Mother Jones, the Miners' Angel must be treated with respect
She's an old fashioned lady, and you never would suspect
That this gown and this bonnet would fill a rich man full of dread
"She's the most dangerous woman in America," they said.
-Andy Irvine
See Also:
Spirit of Mother Jones Festival July 2014
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