J.H. Blair

"They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there. You'll either be a Union man, or a thug for J.H. Blair."

- Florence Reece, "Which Side Are You On?" '''John Henry "J.H." Blair''' (1879 - 1934) was the sherrif of Harlan County, Kentucky during the Harlan County War, which was a series of coal mining-related skirmishes, executions, bombings, and strikes (both attempted and realized) that took place in Harlan County, Kentucky during the 1930s. The incidents involved coal miners and union organizers on one side, and coal firms and law enforcement officials on the other. The question at hand: the rights of Harlan County coal miners to organize their workplaces and better their wages and working conditions. It was a nearly decade-long conflict, lasting from 1931 to 1939. The number of miners murdered by mine guards remains unknown. Federal soldiers were routinely dispatched to the coal fields in response to what one governor called a “reign of terror.”

Blair was known for his brutal tactics against miners (which included routine beatings and even outright murder) as well as his fierce defense of the coal companies, which owned all but three incorporated towns in Harlan County.

One particular event involving Blair served as the inspiration for the song "Which Side Are You On?". Songwriter Florence Reece reported: "Sheriff J.H. Blair and his men came to our house in search of Sam – that's my husband – he was one of the union leaders. I was home alone with our seven children. They ransacked the whole house and then kept watch outside, waiting to shoot Sam down when he came back. But he didn't come home that night. Afterward I tore a sheet from a calendar on the wall and wrote the words to 'Which Side Are You On?' to an old Baptist hymn, 'Lay the Lily Low'. My songs always goes to the underdog – to the worker. I'm one of them and I feel like I've got to be with them. There's no such thing as neutral. You have to be on one side or the other. Some people say, 'I don't take sides – I'm neutral.' There's no such thing. In your mind you're on one side or the other. In Harlan County there wasn't no neutral. If you wasn't a gun thug, you was a union man. You had to be."

Strikers exchanged gunshots with private guards and local law enforcement, and strikebreakers were set upon and beaten. The most violent unprovoked attack by mine workers occurred on May 5, 1931, and became known as the Battle of Evarts. The miners lay in ambush for cars carrying company men, and shot at them. Three company men and one striker were killed in the exchange of gunfire.

In response to the violence, the Kentucky National Guard was called in. The strikers expected protection, but upon replacing deputized mine guards, the National Guard broke the picket lines instead. On May 24 a union rally was tear-gassed, and Sheriff Blair rescinded county members' right to assemble. By June 17, the last mine had returned to work. No concessions were given by the mine operators, and UMW membership plummeted.

Under the auspices of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which promoted the right to organize one's workplace and outlawed discrimination and firing based on union membership, approximately half of Harlan's coal mines, those in the Harlan County Coal Operators' Association, were run as open shops from October 27, 1933 - March 31, 1935. An open shop allows union membership but does not mandate it. However, wages at these mines came into step with the rest of the nation. Despite headway by the unions, the battle for Harlan county between labor and capital continued in earnest.

Sheriff Blair was voted out of office in 1933 and died in 1934, replaced by T.R. Middleton, a candidate who ran on a pro-union platform.