"Welcome The Traveler Home" by Jim Garland, Edited by Julia S. Ardery

Jim Garland (1905-1978), the author of this book, was born in Bell County Kentucky and grew up, like several others of his family, to become an underground coal miner. He was also a well known labor leader, union organizer, and folk singer who also happened to be the brother of Aunt Molly Jackson and Sarah Ogan Gunning both of whom were also folk singers and active in support of trade unionism and worker's rights. He organized and was a member of both the United Mine Workers of America and the National Miners Union. His organizing work was primarily in Harlan and Bell counties in Kentucky where he had worked at various times in several mines. He wrote this book, or at least, wrote most of the manuscript well before his death in 1978 but never published the book himself. At some point, his wife Hazel seems to have passed the manuscript on to the Kentucky writer Julia S. Ardery (1889-1977) who edite the work but also failed to get it published in her lifetime. Ardery wrote one other major book, " The Temptation: Edgar Tolson and the Genesis of Twentieth-Century Folk Art", which is a masterful biography and work of art criticism which was also not published in her lifetme. I have written about the Tolson biography at this link.When we consider that "Welcome The Traveler Home" was not published in the lifetimes of either the author or editor, it is a miracle that the book was ever published at all. However, Ardery was from a prominent Bourbon County Kentucky political family and the mother of a US Army Major General; a second son who worked for a time in Washington, DC, as a journalist before joining the University of Kentucky which published this book; and a third son who was an accountant who died by suicide four years before his mother's death. It seems likely that one of her sons was instrumental in the effort to have this book by Jim Garland published as well as Julia Ardery's book about Edgar Tolson. Rarely in the world of book publishing do manuscripts survive long enough to published after the death of the author. Yes, I acknowledge that it does sometimes happen, but it is as rare as hen's teeth. Garland's style of writing was exemplary of his lack of education but still strong writing. Ardery said in her Introduction that she had done as little as possible to alter Garland's original work with only minor edits for clarity of meaning, some organizational work since his manuscripts appears to have been less than well organized. But the content of the book is what makes it more than well worth reading. While I do believe it has some significant historical inaccuracies in it, it is still a fine first person discussion of the effort to unionize the Kentucky coalfields in the 1920's and 1930's. It also provides some interesting glimpses into the lived of he two famous folk singing sisters of Garland. But, sadly, it is devoted almost entirely to the time he spent in Eastern Kentucky as a coal miner and union organizer with minimal discussion of his life as a folk singer afer he was forced to leave the coal fields because he believed he had been targeted for death by coal operators. Two absolutely minimal references are made to two other very important figures in the effort to unionize the coalfields, Don West and Sam Reece. in the case of Don West whom Garaland says replaced him in the organizing effort when he was forced to leave Eastern Kentucky, the reference is only one sentence long. In the case of Sam Reece who was the husband of Florence Reece who wrote the classic labor ballad "Which Side Are You On?", Garland uses about three sentences to say that at some point in the union effort, he had borrowed Sam Reece's car to make a trip out of town. Both Don West and Sam Reece were major figures in the effort to organize the coalfields. I knew Don West quite well from about 1974 until his death in 1992 but never heard him mention Jim Garland in any of the many discussions I heard him give of his life as an organizer, miner,labor activist, and educator. I was also able to spend two days in the company of Florence and Sam Reece at Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee, which Don West and Myles Horton founded. I spent roughly a year living at the Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem, West Virginia, which was founded by Don and Connie West. It would have been very educational if I had been able to hear and cross reference all those people's memories of the organizing efforts Harland and Bell counties including their discussions about each other. Such complete knowledge from all of them would have vastly improved my knowledge about Jim Garland and his work. The book is full of references to Appalachian social customs, mores, and history as Jim Garland chose to describe it all. It is a fairly well written book, extremely well edited by Julia S. Ardery, and well worth the time to read by any student of American Labor History, Appalachian Studies, or Kentucky History. It is very minimal in its discussion of folk songs despite the addition of the lyrics of several songs across the length of the text. My particular copy which I bought at a Goodwill Store for $1.59 plus tax is also inscribed by Suzy Roy and Betty Garland Roy, the daughter of Jim and Hazel Garland. A third signature is signed simply "Mrs. Jim Garland". It appears that all three signatures were made with the same red fine point marker. Due to the length of Betty's inscription which refers to Jim Garland as "Daddy" and to Sarah Ogan Gunning as "Aunt Sarah", I believe the signatures are authentic. I have added a scan of the inscription page below. I hope you can find and read your own copy of the book if you are a student of Appalachian Studies, Union Organizing and History, or Kentucky History. It is a fascinating read!

Florence And Sam Reece, Appalachian Heroes

Florence Reece

In November 1974, I was lucky enough to meet Florence and Sam Reece at a conference at the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, TN.  That weekend conference would be the only time I would ever be lucky enough to be in their company.  Sam Reece was already seriously ill with a plethora of health problems, most of which were related to his life in the coal mines and perhaps to physical abuse which he suffered at the hands of coal company gun thugs during the Harlan County Strike of the late 1920's.  At that time, Florence Reece was still in very good health for her advanced age.  She regaled the group at the conference with numerous stories of the years she and her husband had spent fighting for union recognition for the coal miners of Harlan County Kentucky.  She also spoke at length about her song writing and especially about writing "Which Side Are You On?", one of the best known union organizing songs in American labor history.  They also spoke at length of the harassment they had both suffered from Senator Joseph McCarthy and The United States Senate Subcommittee On Investigations during the communist witch hunts of the summer of 1954.  At that time, Senator Joseph McCarthy was running rampant harassing union members, union organizers, liberal thinkers, writers, actors, and any other public or semi-public figure who spoke out on behalf of the working class.  

Sam Reece was working as a union organizer in Harlan County in the late 1920's and early 1930's.  At the time, Florence was simply a miner's wife and mother to her children.  As Florence Reece told the story, one night in 1931 anti-union gun thugs employed by Sheriff John Henry Blair and the coal companies raided their home in an attempt to jail, or perhaps even kill, Sam Reece for his union activity.  The gun thugs raided the house, terrorized Florence and her children, and ransacked nearly the entire house searching for any kind of union literature.  Sam had managed to escape into the mountains just before the gun thugs arrived.  Florence always said that after the company thugs left she was so angry at having her home violated that she ripped a sheet off a wall calendar and immediately wrote the lyrics to "Which Side Are You On?"   The song instantly began to grow into the world famous union anthem it still is today.  It has been translated into dozens of languages and sung at labor, peace, and other rallies for the underprivileged all over the world.  It made both Florence and Sam Reece famous.  For the rest of their lives they stood up for the rights of the working class, endured harassment and hatred, and never flinched to their dying day in the fight for the rights of the downtrodden.  

The story of Florence and Sam Reece  has  been told many times in many ways.  It has become at least one book, "Which Side Are You On?  The Story Of A Song" by George Ella Lyon.  The story has also been told as a play, "Which Side Are You On? The Florence Reece Story"  written by Edward Francisco and produced at Pellissippi State University.  The story of Florence and Sam Reece is a story of courage in the face of danger, resolution in the face of fear, and suffering in support of a cause for the good of humanity.  By the time Florence Reece died in 1986, more than fifty years after the song was written, she was famous enough that her obituary was carried in the NY Times.  Here is a link to Florence Reece's memorial on Find A Grave.  Here is a link to Sam Reece's memorial on Find A Grave. 

Here is a link to the You Tube Florence Reece version of "Which Side Are You On?"

Here is a link to the You Tube Pete Seeger version of "Which Side Are You On?"

Here is a link to the printed lyrics to "Which Side Are You On?" in both English and French. 

I will always be proud that I was able to spend time in the company of Florence and Sam Reece.  They were two of four people I have known who were pilloried by Senator Joseph McCarthy for their works for the good of humanity.  I learned a great deal from spending time in the company of such people.  I learned that good people must always stand up and speak out in the defense of good, just causes.  I learned that good, just causes do not always win out.  Constant effort is required from good people to support such causes.  Men and women such as Florence and Sam Reece, George Washington, Thomas Paine, and Mahatma Ghandi, and you my friend must stand up, speak out, and sometimes suffer if just causes are to win.  Sadly, America is entering such a period today.  A self confessed sex offender, career criminal and Fascist is likely to occupy the White House in the near future.  America could use several million people like Florence and Sam Reece today.