Mary Jackson

Mary Jackson (c. 1829 c. 1870) was a Virginian peddler known for her role in organizing the 1863 riots in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, now known as the Richmond Bread Riots. Jackson instigated and led a group of around 300 armed women through the streets of Richmond, demanding food and supplies that were in shortage during wartime. Although for the most part the violence was only threatened and not actually perpetrated, the armed mob did succeed in stealing thousands of dollars in goods as an expression of their frustration and desperation as the government failed to care for them while most of the men were fighting in the war.