stLouISTIrish Flag Flies Over Mother Jones Grave For First Time In Nearly A Century
MOUNT OLIVE - Friday, June 2, 2023, officially marked the first time in ninety three years that an Irish flag flew over the grave of Mother Jones, located at the intersection of Mt. Olive Road and Reservoir Road in Mount Olive. Mother Jones was a prominent advocate and organizer for workers, particularly miners. The Mother Jones Museum explains why Mother Jones is buried in Mount Olive on their website : “Mary Harris ‘Mother’ Jones wrote a special request to the miners of Mt. Olive in 1923 asking to be buried in the Union Miners Cemetery in, ‘the same clay that shelters the miners who gave up their lives on the hills of Virden.’ Her request was granted.” The Union Miners Cemetery Perpetual Care Committee and Friends of Mother Jones Museum in Mt. Olive decided to fly the Irish flag over the gravesite to indicate Jones’ Irish Heritage. On April 30, the twelve mid-state Irish Consulate General Kevin Byrne visited the gravesite, and
