1913 Massacre
Encyclopedia
"1913 Massacre" is a topical ballad
written by Woody Guthrie
, and recorded and released in 1941 for Moses Asch's
Folkways
label
. The song originally appeared on Struggle: Documentary No. 1, an album of labor songs, it was eventually re-released in 1999 on Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4. The song is about the deaths of striking
copper miners and their families in Calumet
, Michigan
, on Christmas Eve
, 1913, commonly known as the Italian Hall disaster
.
, (founder of Folkways Records
) One of the songs that was recorded out of those hundreds was the “1913 Massacre”. Woody started writing this song around 1941. According to Pete Seeger
he had gotten the idea of the song after reading about the Italian Hall disaster
in Ella Reeves (Mother Bloor) autobiography, which was titled “We Are Many".
Woody wrote this song around 1941. According to Pete Seeger, he read about the Italian Hall disaster in Mother Bloor's autobiography We Are Many, published in 1940. (Woody's own notes confirm that he got the idea for the song "from the life of Mother Bloor.")
Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor was an eyewitness to the events at Italian Hall on Christmas Eve, 1913.[4] A socialist and a 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 greatly assisted in this work by Annie Clemenc, also known as Big Annie of Calumet — the "lady" in Woody'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."[7] She devotes the second half of the chapter to events in Ludlow, Colorado in 1914, the subject of another Woody Guthrie song — "Ludlow Massacre."
Woody'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 Annie Clemenc.
There are conflicting stories about what actually happened that Christmas Eve and of who yelled fire in Italian Hall. These conflicts will probably never be resolved: they are themselves evidence of what Thurner calls a "war between capital and labor" in the Copper Country in 1913. This war manifested itself, even in 1913-1914, in a struggle over the story of what really transpired that Christmas Eve in Italian Hall.
The contest over what the event means (or should mean) is ongoing. Woody's song counts as one of the more powerful —and certainly one of the best known — interpretations of the tragedy.
Woody's version of the song is available on Struggle and on Hard Travelin', and while "1913 Massacre" never became a folk standard, the song has been recorded and performed many times since Woody first typed it out. (He liked to work at the typewriter.) Among those who have done the song are Woody's son Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin Jack Elliot, Scottish folksinger Alex Campbell, and Bob Dylan.
Dylan performed "1913 Massacre" at Carnegie Hall in 1961.[17] He had been working with Woody during the late winter of that year. Apparently Woody had made him aware of the song's connection (via Bloor's book) to "Ludlow Massacre"; Dylan identified "1913 Massacre" as "one of a group of two" songs. Later, he set his own tribute to Woody Guthrie —"Song To Woody" — to the tune of "1913 Massacre."
The song revolves around a tragedy
that took place on December 24, 1913, in Calumet's Italian Hall. Over five hundred striking miners and their families had gathered at the Hall for a Christmas
party that night. The hall could only be accessed by a steep stairway; along with a poorly-marked fire escape
which could only be reached by climbing out of the windows, the stairway was the only available exit.
During the course of the party, somebody shouted "fire!
", although there was no fire. However, people began to panic en masse, and rushed towards the stairway. While trying to all make their way down stairs, seventy-three people were trampled to death, fifty-nine of which were children.
In the book, Ramblin' Jack Elliott: The Never-Ending Highway, Hank Reineke writes that while in college Elliott was introduced to Woody Guthrie's songs and that he would play "1913 Massacre," and other Woody Guthrie covers "tirelessly, for the next sixty years." Reineke quotes Phil Ochs introducing Elliott during a concert in 1964, as "not only Guthrie's finest disciple but 'one of the finest folk musicians in the country.'"
Bob Dylan wrote "Song to Woody" as a tribute to Woody Guthrie and while the song did not use the "1913 Massacre" lyrics, it did borrow the tune to Guthrie's "1913 Massacre." Hampton writes that Bob Dylan's "Song to Woody" was written as a way for Dylan to express "his debt to this great balladeer."
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
written by Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, and recorded and released in 1941 for Moses Asch's
Moses Asch
Moses Asch was the founder of Folkways Records. Asch ran the label from 1948 until his death...
Folkways
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. The song originally appeared on Struggle: Documentary No. 1, an album of labor songs, it was eventually re-released in 1999 on Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4. The song is about the deaths of striking
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
copper miners and their families in Calumet
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, 1913, commonly known as the Italian Hall disaster
Italian Hall disaster
The Italian Hall Disaster is a tragedy that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan...
.
Background and writing
Throughout the 1940’s, Woody proceeded to record hundreds of discs for Moses AschMoses Asch
Moses Asch was the founder of Folkways Records. Asch ran the label from 1948 until his death...
, (founder of Folkways Records
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
) One of the songs that was recorded out of those hundreds was the “1913 Massacre”. Woody started writing this song around 1941. According to Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
he had gotten the idea of the song after reading about the Italian Hall disaster
Italian Hall disaster
The Italian Hall Disaster is a tragedy that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan...
in Ella Reeves (Mother Bloor) autobiography, which was titled “We Are Many".
Woody wrote this song around 1941. According to Pete Seeger, he read about the Italian Hall disaster in Mother Bloor's autobiography We Are Many, published in 1940. (Woody's own notes confirm that he got the idea for the song "from the life of Mother Bloor.")
Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor was an eyewitness to the events at Italian Hall on Christmas Eve, 1913.[4] A socialist and a 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 greatly assisted in this work by Annie Clemenc, also known as Big Annie of Calumet — the "lady" in Woody'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."[7] She devotes the second half of the chapter to events in Ludlow, Colorado in 1914, the subject of another Woody Guthrie song — "Ludlow Massacre."
Woody'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 Annie Clemenc.
There are conflicting stories about what actually happened that Christmas Eve and of who yelled fire in Italian Hall. These conflicts will probably never be resolved: they are themselves evidence of what Thurner calls a "war between capital and labor" in the Copper Country in 1913. This war manifested itself, even in 1913-1914, in a struggle over the story of what really transpired that Christmas Eve in Italian Hall.
The contest over what the event means (or should mean) is ongoing. Woody's song counts as one of the more powerful —and certainly one of the best known — interpretations of the tragedy.
Woody's version of the song is available on Struggle and on Hard Travelin', and while "1913 Massacre" never became a folk standard, the song has been recorded and performed many times since Woody first typed it out. (He liked to work at the typewriter.) Among those who have done the song are Woody's son Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin Jack Elliot, Scottish folksinger Alex Campbell, and Bob Dylan.
Dylan performed "1913 Massacre" at Carnegie Hall in 1961.[17] He had been working with Woody during the late winter of that year. Apparently Woody had made him aware of the song's connection (via Bloor's book) to "Ludlow Massacre"; Dylan identified "1913 Massacre" as "one of a group of two" songs. Later, he set his own tribute to Woody Guthrie —"Song To Woody" — to the tune of "1913 Massacre."
Italian Hall disaster
Main article: Italian Hall disasterItalian Hall disaster
The Italian Hall Disaster is a tragedy that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan...
The song revolves around a tragedy
Tragedy (event)
A tragedy is an event in which one or more losses, usually of human life, occurs that is viewed as mournful. Such an event is said to be tragic....
that took place on December 24, 1913, in Calumet's Italian Hall. Over five hundred striking miners and their families had gathered at the Hall for a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
party that night. The hall could only be accessed by a steep stairway; along with a poorly-marked fire escape
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
which could only be reached by climbing out of the windows, the stairway was the only available exit.
During the course of the party, somebody shouted "fire!
Shouting fire in a crowded theater
"Shouting fire in a crowded theatre" is a popular metaphor and frequent paraphrasing of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s opinion in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States in 1919...
", although there was no fire. However, people began to panic en masse, and rushed towards the stairway. While trying to all make their way down stairs, seventy-three people were trampled to death, fifty-nine of which were children.
Cover versions and influences
Many artists have covered "1913 Massacre," including Cabin Sessions, Alex Campbell, Scarlett O' & Jürgen Ehle, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Tim Grimm, Arlo Guthrie, Uncle Dave Huber, Enoch Kent, Alastair Moock, Lee Murdock, Joel Rafael, David Rovics, Jules Shear, and Sammy Walker.In the book, Ramblin' Jack Elliott: The Never-Ending Highway, Hank Reineke writes that while in college Elliott was introduced to Woody Guthrie's songs and that he would play "1913 Massacre," and other Woody Guthrie covers "tirelessly, for the next sixty years." Reineke quotes Phil Ochs introducing Elliott during a concert in 1964, as "not only Guthrie's finest disciple but 'one of the finest folk musicians in the country.'"
Bob Dylan wrote "Song to Woody" as a tribute to Woody Guthrie and while the song did not use the "1913 Massacre" lyrics, it did borrow the tune to Guthrie's "1913 Massacre." Hampton writes that Bob Dylan's "Song to Woody" was written as a way for Dylan to express "his debt to this great balladeer."