Chautauqua Festival 2026 – Revolutionary Americans – Mother Jones

Hear her story in her own words. “I belong to a class of people that all down through the ages have been robbed, murdered, maligned, crucified, deluded and because I belong to that class, I think it is my duty to stop these crimes.” The fiery words of Mary Harris Jones resonated with workers in the past and still do today. Jones, who earned the nickname Mother Jones for her maternal devotion to all workers, was a tireless revolutionary who fought to improve working conditions for workers in the early twentieth century. Mother Jones was indeed a remarkable woman for her time, or for anytime. Her passion and fire to create decent working conditions for all workers still resonates today. She fought for child labor laws and free speech and equality of all people with a fervent determination. Through her fiery rhetoric, we are able to glimpse a bit of America’s revolutionary past.

Karen Vuranch (Mother Jones)

Karen Vuranch has been researching and performing Mother Jones, her first Chautauqua character, for more than 30 years. She began performing Mother Jones for the 1989 UMWA strike against Pittston Coal Company and was the warm-up speaker for Cesar Chavez. Through her company, WV Enterprises, Karen travels throughout the nation with her Chautauqua characters, murder mystery performances and storytelling. She has performed 14 characters, including Julia Child and Cass Elliot in Greenville. She has also performed throughout the US, England and Wales with her one-woman play, Coal Camp Memories, which she based on oral history she gathered in West Virginia. Additionally, she has participated in a storytelling exchange in China. In 2022, Karen retired from teaching theatre at Concord University in West Virginia.

Based in Greenville, SC, Chautauqua History Comes Alive is interactive theater and the performances offer an astonishing journey into the past allowing the audience to hear stories of the characters in their own words. This year’s character performances are Rebecca Motte (Saturday, June 13); Paul Robeson (Tuesday, June 16); Mother Jones (Thursday, June 18); Captain Henry Felder Saturday, June 20); and Edgar Allen Poe (Tuesday, June 23). Doors open one hour before show, seating is first come, first served. The Chautauqua Festival at the Transylvania County Library is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Library.