The Women of Copper Country by Mary Russell

I am always amazed to learn of women who changed their world.  When I read the book, The Whip, I learned of a real life woman who was the first to drive a supply wagon across the west during the Gold Rush days.  This was an amazing story of courage and strength in a world that did not encourage women to step outside of their “box.” In The Women of Copper Country,  Mary Russell enlightened me about a time and place in American history that I was totally unfamiliar with—the 20th century copper mines in the UP of Michigan and the strikes that began the labor unions that improved their lives.  Most of us are blissfully unaware of the horrific work conditions in the early 1900s done by many poor, undereducated men and women in support of the industrialization of our country.  Russell tells the story of the plight of the miners in Michigan.  The working conditions were beyond dangerous and the living conditions were clearly set by the mine owners to keep the workers in near slave conditions.  The divide between the “Have” and “have nots” was wide and the attitude of the wealthy was that those who worked for them were simply there to keep the wheels turning. The wealthy owners had little desire to help the workers to improve their living conditions or to move up in the world.  Russell tells the story of the copper strike of 1913 in Calumet led almost entirely by Annie Clements and her faithful followers.  Up against the power and money of the mine owners the strikers were doomed to be defeated and left in worse shape than when they began.  Because strikes, by their nature, are collective actions and thus require workers to leave their jobs, these workers had to be willing to risk what little they had and hope they would survive on the generosity of strangers.  Annie and her team were able to support their strikers by bringing in money from other unions around the country as well as collect money sent because of publicity from well known strikers like Mother Jones and Ella Bloor as well as the coverage from news writers like Mike Sweeney.  Annie was simply a housewife, but somehow she was able to mobilize 10,000 miners and she kept the strike going for months.  It cost her dearly, but she was eventually rewarded with the passage of the Clayton antitrust act in 1914 which came to be known as the Magna Carta of Labor.  If you liked the movie Norma Rae, you will enjoy this book.  It is inspiring and uplifting to read about those who are willing to sacrifice everything to win independence and respect for themselves and their community.