Little Red Songbook

Music was a crucial part of the organizing.

First published on August 19, 1909 in Spokane, Washington, was the Little Red Songbook, also titled Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent.

It contained lyrics that advocated worker solidarity, direct action, and the overthrow of wage slavery.

Often they were adapted to familiar hymns or folk melodies to make them easier to memorize.

The early editions contained a lot of our most well-known labor songs, including the song you just heard, Solidarity Forever, arguably the most widely sung union anthem in American history, and one that will get its own episode on this show.

The Little Red Songbook also held songs like the Internationale, the international anthem of the socialist and labor movements, written in France in 1871 and translated into dozens of languages.

It's another song that will get its own full episode.

It also included a lot of songs by Joe Hill.