Ralph Chaplin's Labor Anthem 'Solidarity Forever' Turns 100!

Ralph Chaplin’s battle-tested "Solidarity Forever" continues to withstand the test of time hitting an eternal note at 100. The radical labor anthem celebrates its centennial having been birthed in Chicago on January 17, 1915 during a "Hunger Demonstration." Chaplin, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), noted his song’s verses were baptized during the 1912-13 coal miners’ strike in Kanawha, West Virginia. Their solidarity ethos became blood-soaked in the logger wars that eventually erupted in the Everett Massacre when hundreds of members of the IWW boarded two steamers headed for Everett, Washington from Seattle to support their fellow workers who were beaten in an attack by Snohomish County Sheriff Don McRae’s men.

Read more on my latest PM Press blog post:

http://www.pmpress.org/content/article.php/20150117074412971