Plaque honoring Mother Jones deferred by council

AFL-CIO seeks to honor 1903 visit to Princeton, but concerns raised over proliferation.

By: Jennifer Potash
   Famed union activist Mother Jones will have a parade in her honor, but the possibility of a plaque memorializing a visit she made to Princeton remains in question.
   The Princeton Borough Council approved plans Tuesday by the New Jersey AFL-CIO to stage a July 9 re-enactment of Mother Jones’ 1903 speech and other celebrations that took place in Princeton.
   But the council deferred the question of a proposed plaque honoring Mother Jones at Tiger Park to the Princeton Historical Review Commission.
   Some council members said Princeton has rich history with colorful and prominent figures and the borough might become cluttered with monuments if every speech, event or individual were honored with a memorial.
   "I would love to accommodate (the AFL-CIO)," said Councilman David Goldfarb. "I am concerned about the plaque only because some historically significant events occurred here and I don’t want nonstop plaques from one end of town to the other."
   The motion to approve the parade but defer the plaque proposal passed by a 5-1 vote. Councilwoman Wendy Benchley, who cast the lone negative vote, said a plaque honoring Mother Jones is appropriate and would balance out all the other memorials dedicated to former presidents and generals.
   Laurel Brennan, secretary and treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, which represents 1 million workers, said the labor organization will pay for the plaque and is very flexible regarding the design and location for the memorial.
   The AFL-CIO is seeking to honor the centennial of Mother Jones’ speech and march to acknowledge the organization’s past, present and future, said Charles Wowkanech, president of the state chapter, prior to the council meeting. He said sweatshop labor practices remain a major problem affecting children and immigrant workers.
   In May 1903, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones stopped on Nassau Street during a march from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt’s Oyster Bay, Long Island residence to speak out against labor practices that permitted young children to haul 75-pound loads in mills and mines. The march, which involved adult and child textile workers from Philadelphia-area mills, led to legislation in New Jersey and other states prohibiting children under the age of 14 from entering the mills.
   According to an article in the July 11, 1903 issue of the Princeton Press, the "army" that descended upon Trenton on July 10 had only 280 members.
   Mother Jones and her followers spent the night at former President Grover Cleveland’s barn — the family was at a summer residence — and were offered free meals and supplies by the Nassau Inn, according to press accounts and Mother Jones’ 1925 autobiography.
   Her speech in front of the Nassau Inn, then located on Nassau Street, cited the inequity of poor children working under horrendous conditions in factories while the children of the owners attended colleges and universities.
   "What are your young men at Princeton but a lot of bums who think they know more than the president of the United States?" said Mother Jones, quoted in a July 12, 1903 New York Times article. "They are wasting money on education which will do no good. The money ought to go to organized labor."