One of the great anthems of the international Labour Movement was written in a matter of hours on the back of an old calendar. Florence Reece, wife of miners union leader Sam Reece was so angry one evening after the local sheriff J.H. Blair and his deputies had raided their home looking for her husband, she sat down and wrote Which Side Are You On? in response.
1932 saw a bitter miners strike take place in Harlan County in Kentucky, when the mine operators refused to allow the miners to join the union. The coal operators instigated a campaign of terror to prevent the union getting a foothold in Kentucky and upwards of a dozen miners had been murdered by deputies in the pay of the mine owners. The miners were subject to intimidation and constant raids on their homes.
Sam Reece had been warned that the sheriff was coming for him and he had escaped into the mountains. His home was wrecked by the deputies and his wife and two daughters present were terrorised. Florence’s response was to write this song which her daughters later sang at the local union hall.
From such a beginning, the song has traveled worldwide.Pete Seeger popularised it along with the Almanac Singers in the 40s and 50s. It was embraced by the Civil Rights movement in the 60s and 70s. Various verses have been changed but its impact on an audience is immediate.
“My daddy was a miner; he’s now in the air and sun
He’ll be with you, fellow workers, until this battle’s won”
Being in the air and sun meant Sam was blacklisted. He died from Black Lung in 1978.
Florence Reece, labour and civil rights activist passed away suddenly from a heart attack on August 3rd 1986.
“Florence symbolizes that ordinary people out of their own life experiences can capture in simple words and feelings the idea of struggle” (William Serrin in the New York Times, March 18th 1984)
Thanks to Friday’s Labor folklore available from fridaysfolklore@gmail.com . Our thanks to Saul Schniderman for permission to use the following link to read the story of which side are you on and to listen to some of the singers of that famous Labour ballad.