The Foundation was established in 1986 to present an annual lecture series marking the deadly coal miners' strike in Virden, Illinois in 1898. For many years the Foundation held its annual Mother Jones Dinners at Sangamon State University. The collection includes financial records, membership lists, minutes, correspondence, posters, flyers, and newsletters; also records of arrangements, donations, ticket sales, entertainment, and speakers for the annual Mother Jones Dinner and lecture series (1986-2010). Also includes collected articles and clippings on the Virden mine strike, Mary Harris "Mother"  Jones (1830-1930), Eugene V. Debs, and labor history in general; copies of the United Mine Workers Journal (1976-1990), posters, memorabilia from the 1986 Haymarket Centennial celebration, a Proclamation of Mother Jones Week  by the City of Springfield (1989), press releases, copies of In These Times (1976-1978), protest buttons, and a videotape of the 1989 Mother Jones Dinner. The material was largely produced and collected by the Foundation Presidents, Ralph Stone, professor of History at SSU, and Jack Dyer, AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison. Also includes Mother Jones Foundation Annual Dinners (1986-1998) recorded on DVDs.