Today in Labor History April 22, 2011: Songwriter, musician and activist Hazel Dickens died at age 75. Dickens was well known, not only for her protest songs, but for her activism, too. According to blogger John Pietaro, "Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them and her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause." She was born in West Virginia in 1925. After her family moved to Baltimore in the 1940s, she met Mike Seeger. Together, the two became active in the Baltimore folk music and protest scenes. She wrote “They’ll Never Keep Us Down,” and “Working Girl Blues.” She made appearances in the Oscar-winning documentary Harlan County, USA, about the struggle of coalminers and contributed four songs to the film's soundtrack. She was also in the films Matewan and Songcatcher. And she recorded an album called, Don’t Mourn, Organize! covering the songs of IWW singer and organizer, Joe Hill.

In the accompanying Youtube video, she performs Fire in the Hole, from Matewan. https://youtu.be/1pb2bDA7Kd0

#workingclass #LaborHistory #folk #folkmusic #singer #songwriter #HazelDickens #coal #mining #union #protest #matewan #IWW #feminism #joehill #mikeseeger

Want to learn to play the #autoharp? Watch #KilbySnow with #MikeSeeger!

One of 33 performances recorded at the University of Washington in association with the #Seattle #Folklore Society.
#folkmusic #hemakesitlookSOeasy

https://youtu.be/6bQfcwZia5I