Fannie Never Flinched: "Angel of Mercy"

by Mary Cronk Farrell
This nonfiction book chronicles the life Fannie Sellins, a garment worker and labor organizer who was tragically murdered on August 26, 1919.

This list covers "Angel of Mercy."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    Fannie found miners’ families in rickety houses with no running water.
  2. stoop
    bend one's back forward from the waist on down
    The men worked sunup to sundown like Fannie had in the garment factory, but they went underground with picks and shovels. Sometimes damp and cold, sometimes stooped over or kneeling, but always covered in coal-black grime.
  3. grime
    thick or ingrained dirt
    The men worked sunup to sundown like Fannie had in the garment factory, but they went underground with picks and shovels. Sometimes damp and cold, sometimes stooped over or kneeling, but always covered in coal-black grime.
  4. cranny
    a small opening or crevice
    Boys started in the mine as early as age six or seven. Some “nippers” crawled into crannies to chip away the coal.
  5. solicit
    request urgently or persistently
    She solicited donations of food and clothing for the miners’ families.
  6. charisma
    personal attractiveness that enables you to influence others
    Her charisma and passion roused the workers, as she cared for the sick and helped mothers in childbirth.
  7. rouse
    cause to be agitated or excited
    Her charisma and passion roused the workers, as she cared for the sick and helped mothers in childbirth.
  8. union
    an employee organization that bargains with an employer
    The miners whispered about organizing a union, and Fannie encouraged them, but a judge had outlawed the United Mine Workers of America, or UMWA, in the region.
  9. shanty
    a small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    The coal company owned them body and soul. It owned the shanties they lived in, the stores where they bought groceries, and even the schools and churches.
  10. evict
    expel from one's property or force to move out
    They evicted families from their houses, dumping everything they owned on the ground.
  11. strikebreaker
    one who works during a protest against working conditions
    Bosses hauled in a trainload of strikebreakers to replace the workers.
  12. indebted
    under a legal obligation to someone
    The antiunion coalfields of West Virginia came close to the feudal systems of the Middle Ages, where the lower classes worked for landowners and remained indebted to them for life.
  13. incite
    provoke or stir up
    Fannie’s attempts to organize mine workers and
 give comfort to their families was called “inciting to riot” by the local authorities.
  14. solidarity
    a union of interests or purposes among members of a group
    December 3, 1913, Fannie joined the striking miners in a huge rally to show solidarity.
  15. defy
    resist or confront with resistance
    Fannie was arrested for defying the antiunion injunction, but the judge let her off with a warning.
  16. fracas
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    Eleven men were accused of being ringleaders in the fracas and arrested. Fannie took no part in the fight, but she was arrested, too.
  17. last resort
    something done or used only when nothing else works
    “I do not advise violence,” Fannie said. “Except in self-defense as a last resort.”
  18. facility
    something designed and created to serve a function
    The Marion County jail had no sanitary facilities for women.
  19. tier
    one of two or more layers one atop another
    The jail cells were constructed in tiers three high, and Fannie’s cell was on the top tier where men below could peer up at her through a grating.
  20. grating
    a barrier made of parallel or crossed bars
    The jail cells were constructed in tiers three high, and Fannie’s cell was on the top tier where men below could peer up at her through a grating.
  21. confinement
    the state of being enclosed
    The jail physician wrote the Marion County Board of Health that due to “close confinement and very hot weather” Fannie risked great injury to her health.
  22. alleged
    declared but not proved
    She is not charged with the violation of any law of the state or nation, but with the alleged violation of Judge Dayton’s own injunction, which has been appealed.
  23. injunction
    a judicial remedy to prohibit a party from doing something
    She is not charged with the violation of any law of the state or nation, but with the alleged violation of Judge Dayton’s own injunction, which has been appealed.
  24. appeal
    challenge, as a decision
    She is not charged with the violation of any law of the state or nation, but with the alleged violation of Judge Dayton’s own injunction, which has been appealed.
  25. provision
    the activity of supplying something
    She is the only woman in a jail containing no provisions for women, and this makes her imprisonment simply torture.
Created on Mon Apr 18 13:00:50 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Apr 25 13:30:52 EDT 2022)

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