I knew that Mary Doria Russell's latest book, The Women of the Copper Country (#874) was historical fiction, but before I picked it up, I really had no idea that Annie Klobuchar Clements was a real person, an early twentieth century labor activist nicknamed "the Joan of Arc of Michigan".
The story of how she wound up leading a 1913 strike against the Calumet & Hecla Copper Mine is quite a read. Annie was over six feet tall and had a commanding presence. She started the Women's Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners in Calumet and encouraged and cajoled workers and their families through the services the Auxiliary provided, and through the daily marches of strikers which she led with an enormous American flag. It took strength and physical courage to stand up against James MacNaughton, the mine's General Manager in this company town.
Did she make things better in the end for the average worker? You be the judge after reading her story. It's an eye-opener.
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