Today in 1912: Labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones is placed under house arrest at Pratt, Colorado, for inciting to riot. An organizer for the the United Mine Workers, she is at the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek mines where a long and nasty struggle has escalated. Jones is known for her fiery verbal attacks on coal operators and politicians.
68 years old – though claiming to be over 80 – and suffering from pneumonia, Jones was never charged with a crime. A few weeks later, the new governor, and also a doctor, Henry Hatfield, was sworn in and examined Mother Jones, but refused to release her from house arrest for two months.
It’s Today’s Action Calendar!
Tonight, Professor Mary Schleppegrell from the University of Michigan School of Education will lecture on “Functional Grammar in Support of English Language Learners’ Literacy Development in Elementary Grades.” Free and open to the public, this is at at 5pm in 254 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Drive. For more info, call Kazeem at 608-262-1473, or email sanuth@wisc.edu.
Tonight is a Madison Infoshop Collective Meeting! New volunteers are always welcome. Find out what’s up and how you can help keep your grassroots activist resource clearing house alive and kicking. This is at 6:30pm at Rainbow Bookstore, 426 West Gilman. More info at 262-9036 or madisoninfoshop.org
This year, Madison Public Library is offering free tax filing for individuals, courtesy of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA. VITA will be at the Hawthorne Branch of Madison Public Library, 2707 East Washington Avenue on the following Saturdays: February 23rd, March 9th and 23rd, and April 6th, from 9am to 1pm. Appointments are 20 to 30 minutes. If you are married, both you and your spouse must be present. Call the Central Library reference desk at 266-6350 to schedule an appointment or for questions.