Mt. Olive was founded in 1846 by German immigrant John Niemann. The town prospered with the discovery of coal and the arrival of railroads. European immigrants were attracted to Mt. Olive (as they were to many other Illinois coal towns) by the opportunity to work in the coal mines. And, as in so many coal towns, the miners endured poor pay and dangerous work conditions.

Among the miners was an English immigrant, Alexander Bradley (1866-1918), who had arrived in America as a child with his family, who first lived in Collinsville. The Bradleys then made their home in Mt. Olive, living east of the railroad tracks. We think that the Bradleys lived in this area, possibly in the grey in the background of the photo below:

Alexander transformed himself into “General Bradley”, one of the greatest coal mining labor leaders. Please go to the General Bradley webpage for more information about him: CLICK 

But Bradley is not well known outside labor history enthusiasts for the local region. Rather, Mt. Olive is synonymous with the great labor leader, MOTHER JONES (Mary Harris Jones, 1837-1930), once called “the most dangerous woman in America”. Mother Jones was not from Mt. Olive, did not live in Mt. Olive at any point in her long life, and visited only occasionally. But Mt. Olive is profoundly associated with Mother Jones because she is buried there at her request – in the Union Miners Cemetery. 

On December 4, 1930 the body of Mother Jones arrived in Mt. Olive for burial. The geography of Mother Jones in Mt. Olive can still be reconstructed. We know that she lay in state at the Odd Fellows Temple. And that the funeral service of the miners’ beloved Mother Jones was held at the Church of the Ascension. Mt. Olive’s Becker Funeral Home (still in existence) directed her burial on December 8 in the Union Miners Cemetery. The grandson of one of the pallbearers for Mother Jones’ coffin lived in Mt. Olive until his recent death.

The Mount Olive Herald, which began publishing in June 1880, still operates in town (as a weekly). It covered Mother Jones’ funeral, the development of the the Union Miners Cemetery, the dedication of the Monument, and the struggles between the Progressives and the UMWA. Its office is still on Main Street. 

The town of Mt Olive recognizes its connection to Mother Jones with banners hanging from lamp posts.

Visitors to Mt Olive can learn more about Mother Jones in the Mother Jones Museum (215 E. Main).

For more information about the historic Mother Jones and the labor struggles of coal miners, please go to the RESOURCES section of this project website:  CLICK

Here is another source of historical information for Mt. Olive and all of Macoupin County: CLICK 

We recommend Si Kahn’s extraordinary musical Mother Jones in Heaven starring  Vivian Nesbitt & John Dillon: CLICK
  

Also of interest is the town’s annual Homecoming Parade, which always takes place on Labor Day. Mt. Olive’s role in the labor movement is included in the celebration. Various related activities are conducted in Mt. Olive by the Friends of the Mother Jones Museum Association. 
“General Bradley” and the “anonymous miner” participate in Mt. Olive’s 2022 Homecoming Parade.
The “anonymous miner” walks behind the truck emblazoned with one of Mother Jones’ important sayings. A music duo performs songs of the labor movement under the canopy of the truck.
These beautiful large banners for the Mother Jones Museum in Mt. Olive (left) and the Union Mines Cemetery (right) march in Mt. Olive’s Homecoming Parade.