With its Little Red Songbook, the IWW gave working class rebellion its first soundtrack. This edition was issued in 1914, the first year of World War I, during a period of intense IWW activity. The One Big Union led historic strikes of textile and silk workers in Lawrence and Paterson and was organizing across the country,  met often with violence and suppression. The year 1914 also saw the arrest of IWW songster and organizer Joe Hill, whose songs appeared in the Little Red Songbook.

This image accompanies the audio recording of “Solidarity Forever,” one of twenty songs you can listen to in the exhibit Labor Sings! Songs from the 1930s and 1940s, featuring highlights from the extraordinary compact disc collection by Ron Cohen and Dave Samualson, Songs for Political Action.

To learn more about the IWW, visit the Labor Arts exhibit, Solidarity Forever: A Look at Wobbly Culture.