#ThisIsAppalachia/ Florence Reece: Which Side Are You On?
Florence Reece: Which Side Are You On?
(Excerpted with permission from Zinn Education Project)
Florence Reece was an activist, poet, and songwriter. She was the wife of one of the strikers and union organizers, Sam Reece, in the Harlan County miners’ strike in Kentucky. In an attempt to intimidate her family, the sheriff and company guards shot at their house while Florence and her children were inside. (Sam had been warned they were coming and escaped). During the attack, she wrote the lyrics to Which Side Are You On?, a song that would become a popular ballad of the labor movement.
I was so lucky to have Florence Reece as a friend. She believed in unions and the working class come hell or high water. Florence taught us all about organizing and never losing hope. She talked to people at the laundromat about unions and the need for workers to stand together. She always said, “ As long as there is a U in union we have a chance.” Whenever I got discouraged I would buy an egg custard pie and go see Florence. She would perk a pot of coffee and say, “Tell me what you are doing.” By the time I left I was convinced the fight for unions and worker justice was long and hard but worth it. For Florence there was no ambiguity. You are either with workers or you’re not. June Rostan, retired member of Communication Workers of America and Vice-President, Knoxville-Oak Ridge AFL-CIO Area Central Labor Council
“We Need a Song”
The 2011 children's picture book Which Side Are You On?, tells the story of the classic union song that was written in 1931 by Florence Reece in a rain of bullets. It has been sung by people fighting for their rights all over the world. …Many of the coal mines were owned by big companies, who kept wages low and spent as little money on safety as possible. Miners lived in company houses on company land and were paid in scrip, good only at the company store. …Miners went on strike until they could get better pay, safer working conditions, and health care.
The company hired thugs to attack union organizers like Sam Reece. …George Ella Lyon tells this hair-raising story through the eyes of one of Florence’s daughters, a dry-witted, pig-tailed gal whose vantage point is from under the bed with her six brothers and sisters. The thugs’ bullets hit the thin doors and windows of the company house and the kids lying low wonder whether they’re going to make it out of this alive; wonder exactly if this strike will make their lives better or end them, but their mother keeps scribbling and singing. “We need a song,” she tells her kids.
CHORUS: Which side are you on? (4x)
My daddy was a miner/And I’m a miner’s son/And I’ll stick with the union/‘Til every battle’s won [Chorus]
They say in Harlan County/There are no neutrals there/You’ll either be a union man/Or a thug for JH Blair [Chorus]
Oh workers can you stand it?/Oh tell me how you can/Will you be a lousy scab/Or will you be a man? [Chorus]
Don’t scab for the bosses/Don’t listen to their lies/Us poor folks haven’t got a chance/Unless we organize [Chorus]
Photo: Florence Reece (center) during her 85th birthday celebration in Monteagle, Tenn., 1985. Metascholar.org/Highlander Research and Education Center archive
PROFILES/Women in Labor History, Zinn Education Project. Brief bios of two dozen women of note in the labor movement.
Florence Reece sings, “Which Side Are You On?”
Read more about the story of this song in the children’s book Which Side Are You On? The Story of a Song. By George Ella Lyon. Artwork by Christopher Cardinale. 2011. (Grades 2 and up). You can order online at Social Justice Teaching Books of Teaching or through independent Appalachian book sellers.
Contact Walter Davis if you have a positive story about people, places, and things in Central Appalachia.
