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Thomas J. and Elizabeth Chambers Morgan Papers (Digitized Content)

65 Items Full Collection Description

The digitized content of the Thomas J. and Elizabeth Chambers Morgan collection consists of letters, notes, speeches and addresses, and newspaper clippings regarding Thomas and Elizabeth Morgan involvement with Mother Jones, the labor movement, and the Socialist Party.

Thomas J. Morgan (1847-1912), a lawyer, socialist, and labor leader, was born in Birmingham, England, and came to Chicago where he became president of the Machinists' Union in 1874. He was active in numerous labor organizations as an official, speaker, and writer as well as a frequent labor and socialist nominee for political office. From 1909 to 1911, he issued a weekly publication, The Provoker. His wife, Elizabeth Chambers Morgan, was also deeply involved in the labor movement. Among other activities, she investigated sweatshop conditions among women workers in Chicago in 1891. She compiled the correspondence and clippings in this collection.

The digitized content contains letters, notes, speeches and addresses, and newspaper clippings relating to Thomas and Elizabeth Morgan's involvement with Mother Jones, the labor movement and the Socialist Party, and Morgan's The Provoker. Included are letters to Thomas J. Morgan expressing support of The Provoker and some criticizing him for the publication, and letters to and from Elizabeth Morgan about the Woman's Federal Labor Union.

The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the Thomas J. and Elizabeth Chambers Morgan Collection (MS 139). The collection was partially digitized in 2019. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.

Folder 59, Item 2: Letter from Mother Jones to T.J. Morgan, February 11, 1911 — 0139_59a_02-001.tif