strike. The union had disbursed more than $1 million in strike relief funds, but it was no longer financially able to keep the strike going. On July 1, 1911, the UMWA executive board voted to end to the strike. Although most miners returned to work, about 400 were blacklisted and forced to seek employment outside Pennsylvania. Women's resistance The Westmoreland County coal strike was the setting for one of the more colorful incidents in the life of Mary Harris Jones, better known as "Mother Jones". Even though she was 73 years of age, Mother Jones agreed to travel to Westmoreland County to support the United Mine Workers in their strike. Singing women A number of miners' wives had been arrested in the summer of 1910 for harassing strikebreakers and company security personnel. Jones encouraged the women to bring their babies and small children with them when they were sentenced by the court in Greensburg. The presiding judge sentenced the women to pay a $30 fine or serve 30 days in jail. Unable to pay, the women were jailed. As there was no one else to care for the children, the judge was forced to jail the children along with their mothers. While the women were being processed for imprisonment, Jones instructed them: "You sing the whole night long. You can spell one another if you get tired and hoarse. Sleep all day and sing all night and don't stop for anyone. Say you're singing to the babies. I will bring the little ones milk and fruit. Just you all sing and sing." Fortunately, the jail was next door to the sheriff's home, as well as several hotels, lodging houses, and other homes. The sound of women singing all through the night kept most of the townspeople awake. After five days of sleeplessness, the townspeople angrily demanded that the judge order the women's release. He did so. The incident has become known as "the women who sang their way out of jail". See also Murder of workers in labor disputes in the United States Notes References Cupp, Bob. "1910–11 Irwin Gas Coal Basin Strike Led to Industry Changes." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. February 23, 2007. "First Saxman Settled Near Latrobe Shortly After Braddock's Defeat." Latrobe Bulletin. June 21, 1954. Fishback, Price V. "Did Coal Miners 'Owe Their Souls to the Company Store'? Theory and Evidence from the Early 1900s." Journal of Economic History.