1913 Massacre

March 2012 the song the event the song is about Italian Hall disaster 1913 Massacre Woody Guthrie Struggle 1945 Folk Woody Guthrie "1913 Massacre" is a topical ballad written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, and recorded and released in 1945 for Moses Asch's Folkways label. The song originally appeared on Struggle, an album of labor songs. It was re-released in 1998 on Hard Travelin', The Asch Recordings, Vol.3 and other albums. The song is about the death of striking copper miners and their families in Calumet, Michigan, on Christmas Eve, 1913, in what is commonly known as the Italian Hall disaster. Background and writing thumb|The victims of the 1913 massacre in rough caskets. Throughout the 1940s, Guthrie recorded hundreds of discs for Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records. One was “1913 Massacre”. According to Pete Seeger, Guthrie was inspired to write the song after reading about the Italian Hall disaster in We Are Many (1940), the autobiography of Ella Reeve Bloor, also known as Mother Bloor, a labor activist whose granddaughter was married to Hollywood actor and activist Will Geer who performed with Guthrie in the 1930s.https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062451699/grown-up-anger Grown-Up Anger - Daniel Wolff - Hardcover Wolff Daniel HarperCollins US en 2017-08-10 Guthrie's notes indicate that he got the idea for the song "from the life of Mother Bloor",http://www.1913massacre.com/song.html Woody Guthrie's song The Center for Independent Documentary; Film/Video Arts; Main Street Calumet July 10, 2011 Louis Galdieri https://web.archive.org/web/20110707061215/http://www.1913massacre.com/song.html July 7, 2011 dead an eyewitness to the events at Italian Hall on Christmas Eve, 1913. A socialist and labor organizer from the East Coast, Bloor was in Calumet working on the miners' behalf with the Ladies Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners. She was assisted by Annie Clemenc, also known as "Big Annie of Calumet" – the "lady" in Guthrie's song who hollers "'there's no such a thing! / Keep on with your party, there's no such a thing.'" Bloor tells the story of the Calumet strike and the Italian Hall disaster in the first half of a chapter called "Massacre of the Innocents." She devotes the second half of the chapter to events in Ludlow, Colorado in 1914, the subject of another Guthrie song — "Ludlow Massacre." Guthrie's song echoes the language of Bloor's account in many places. The historian Arthur W. Thurner has found similar accounts in English and Finnish-language newspapers from the period; these accounts, he says, probably originated with Clemenc. (Many Finnish miners settled and worked in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, including Calumet.http://www.folkstreams.net/context,127 Cultural Tracks: Finnish Americans in Michigan Folkstreams 2005-07-11 www.folkstreams.net en 2017-08-02 November 1, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20111101063222/http://www.folkstreams.net/context,127 dead) There are conflicting stories about what happened that Christmas Eve and who yelled "fire" in Italian Hall. These conflicts may never be resolved. They are, according to Thurner, evidence of a "war between capital and labor" in the Copper Country in 1913. This war included a dispute about what transpired that Christmas Eve in Italian Hall. The debate over what the event means (or should mean) is ongoing. Guthrie's song counts as one of the more powerful —and certainly one of the best-known – interpretations of the tragedy. While "1913 Massacre" never became a folk standard, the song has been recorded and performed by many artists, including Guthrie's son Arlo; Ramblin' Jack Elliot; Scottish folksinger Alex Campbell; and Bob Dylan. Dylan performed "1913 Massacre" at Carnegie Chapter Hall in 1961. Dylan set his tribute to Guthrie —"Song To Woody" released in early 1962 — to the tune of "1913 Massacre." thumb|right Italian Hall disaster Italian Hall disaster The song revolves around a tragedy that took place on the evening of December 24, 1913, in Calumet's Italian Hall when more than five hundred striking miners and their families gathered for a Christmas party. The hall was on the second story and was reached by climbing a steep set of stairs. The only other exit was a poorly marked fire escape which could be reached by climbing out the windows. The trouble began when someone yelled "fire!". Even though there was no fire, people panicked and rushed toward the steep stairway which led to the street entrance. Seventy-three people were trampled to death, including fifty-nine children. Cover versions and influences In addition to those mentioned, other artists covering "1913 Massacre" include his son Arlo Guthrie, Cabin Sessions, Alex Campbell, Scarlett O' & Jürgen Ehle, Katie Else, Christy Moore, Tim Grimm,Grimm Grimm Tim Grimm: Singer-songwriter, actor, hay-farmer: Coyote's Dream http://timgrimm.com/lyrics.html# 1913 Massacre Tim Grimm July 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110726073642/http://www.timgrimm.com/lyrics.html July 26, 2011 dead Uncle Dave Huber,Huber Uncle Dave Song List: Woody Guthrie http://www.uncledavehuber.com/songlist.html 1913 Massacre Uncle Dave Huber July 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20080820054022/http://www.uncledavehuber.com/songlist.html August 20, 2008 dead mdy-all Enoch Kent,Enoch Kent Enoch Kent Enoch Kent: Legendary Scottish-Canadian Songsmith: TAKE A TRIP WITH ME http://www.enochkent.ca/discography.htm 1913 Massacre CBS Group Inc. July 11, 2011 September 22, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100922072212/http://www.enochkent.ca/discography.htm dead Alastair Moock,Moock Alastair Alastair Moock: Let It Go: Bonus Tracks http://www.moock.com/store.php 1913 Massacre Alastair Moock July 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110714114245/http://www.moock.com/store.php July 14, 2011 dead mdy-all Lee Murdock,Murdock Lee Lee Murdock: Songs of the Great Lakes: Between Two Worlds: Songs http://www.leemurdock.com/lm_html/music/dep027.htm 1913 Massacre Lee Murdock July 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20120318171215/http://www.leemurdock.com/lm_html/music/dep027.htm March 18, 2012 dead mdy-all Joel Rafael,Rafael Joel Joel Rafael: The Songs of Woody Guthrie, vol. 1 & 2: Songs http://www.joelrafael.com/disc/TheSongsOfWoodieGuthrie.html 1913 Massacre Joel Rafael July 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110723203726/http://www.joelrafael.com/disc/TheSongsOfWoodieGuthrie.html July 23, 2011 dead David Rovics, Jules Shear, and Sammy Walker. Dylan used the tune to "1913 Massacre" when he wrote "Song to Woody"Dylan Bob Bob Dylan: Song to Woody http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/song-to-woody Sony Music Entertainment July 11, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110808235847/http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/song-to-woody August 8, 2011 dead mdy-all which expressed "his debt to this great balladeer."Hampton Wayne Guerrilla Minstrels: John Lennon, Joe Hill, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan 1986 The University of Tennessee Press Knoxville, Tennessee 0-87049-489-9 157 https://archive.org/details/guerrillaminstre0000hamp/page/157 July 12, 2011 limited Guthrie's song also inspired the documentary film "1913 Massacre",http://1913massacre.com/ 1913 Massacre 1913 Massacre en-US 2017-08-02 released in 2011. More recently, both songs are central to a book released in June 2017, "Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913",https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062451699/grown-up-anger Grown-Up Anger - Daniel Wolff - Hardcover Wolff Daniel HarperCollins US en 2017-08-02 by Daniel Wolff. Guthrie, meanwhile, might have drawn the melody for "1913 Massacre" from traditional folk songs including the English ballad, "To Hear The Nightingale Sing" (sometimes called "One Morning In May").http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/FSWB306A.html https://web.archive.org/web/20170408022741/http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/FSWB306A.html dead April 8, 2017 1913 Massacre www.fresnostate.edu 2017-08-09http://www.originals.be/en/originals/10339 The Originals © by Arnold Rypens - NIGHTINGALE, THE www.originals.be en 2017-08-09https://folkworks.org/columns/how-can-i-keep-from-talking-ross-altman/21-columns/how-can-i-keep-from-talking-ross-altman/116-woody-guthries-advice-to-bob-dylan Woody Guthrie FolkWorks April 30, 2007 en-gb 2017-08-09 References 30em Further reading We are many; an autobiography Bloor Ella Reeve Ella Reeve Bloor 1940 International publishers New York External links Lyrics Category:Songs based on American history Category:Songs written by Woody Guthrie Category:Trade union songs Category:Woody Guthrie songs Category:1941 songs