Mary Harris Jones (1837-November 30, 1930) was an American schoolteacher and tailor. In 1867 her husband and their four children died of yellow fever during an epidemic. There was a fire in Chicago, in 1871. Harris Jones' workshop was destroyed in that fire; she lost everything she had. She turned towards the Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labour was an association of workers who also accepted black people and women. From this point on, Harris Jones became active in the labour movement, fighting for better working conditions and better pay of the workers. In 1905, she was a founding member of Industrial Workers of the World, a trade union. 