Reddit reviews Which Side Are You On?: The Harlan County Coal Miners, 1931-39

Some history I found for y'all.

This song, Which side are you on?, Performed here by Woody Guthrie, was written by Florence Reece in 1931. Florence Reece was the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers of Harlan county, Kentucky.

Sheriff J.H. Blair and his men entered the Reece residence illegally, while under the employ of the mining company, searching for Sam Reece. Sam had already left the residence. The sheriff proceeded to terrify the family.

This song was written the same night, after the sheriff left, on the calendar that hung in the family kitchen. It has been performed by a variety of artists in a variety of versions.

The Harlan county war, were a series of conflicts running from 1931 to 1939, between the United Mine Workers and the mine company, who employed both private guards and the sheriff of the county.

After the company cut wages 10%, some organizers from the United Mine Workers began working with miners to form a union.

The company came down hard, firing, and evicting (the company owned the homes, because Capitalism is sorta feudalistic) any known Union members. Soon unaffiliated workers began striking in a show of solidarity.

Thugs proceeded to terrify and attempt to break the strikers, while under the protection of the sheriff. It didn't take long before the people of Harlan county were disabused of their notion of the impartiality of law enforcement.

A quote from the sheriff: "I did all in my power to aid the operators… there was no compromise when labor troubles swept the county and the 'Reds' came to Harlan County."

A quote from Florence Reece: "Sheriff J.H. Blair and his men came to our house in search of Sam – that's my husband – he was one of the union leaders. I was home alone with our seven children. They ransacked the whole house and then kept watch outside, waiting to shoot Sam down when he came back. But he didn't come home that night. Afterward I tore a sheet from a calendar on the wall and wrote the words to 'Which Side Are You On?' to an old Baptist hymn, 'Lay the Lily Low'. My songs always goes to the underdog – to the worker. I'm one of them and I feel like I've got to be with them. There's no such thing as neutral. You have to be on one side or the other. Some people say, 'I don't take sides – I'm neutral.' There's no such thing. In your mind you're on one side or the other. In Harlan County there wasn't no neutral. If you wasn't a gun thug, you was a union man. You had to be."

Eventually the Kentucky national guard was called in. While initially the miners thought the guard would protect them, this also turned out to be wrong. The guardsmen broke up picket lines.

There is a lot more to the history after this as well.

Here are some resources:

Wiki page for the song.

Wiki page for the conflict

Which Side are You On?, A book detailing the war.