Ralph Chaplin

Born in Ames County, Kansas, in 1887, Ralph Chaplin has been a labor activist since the age of seven. Some of his experiences in his life led him to write many poems that had to do with labor. He is most famous for composing the lyrics to the union anthem, which he originally wrote as a poem. I asked him about these experiences and others in this exclusive interview.

What made you become a labor activist?
It was a very traumatic experience, especially at my age at the time. It was during the Pullman strike in Chicago, Illinois. I heard a commotion outside while I was helping my mother with lunch in the kitchen. I got up from the dining table and opened the front door of our small house. The door was red. The color I was just about to see. One of the laborers was yelling at the police and encouraging the crowd. Suddenly, I heard a bang, and the worker’s white shirt was suddenly stained with blood. He fell to the ground, a look of surprise in his eyes. I was too shocked to utter a word, so I closed the door and leaned against it, suddenly feeling very weak. It was then that I decided I would become a labor activist. I was seven years old.

Tell me about working on the strike committee of coal miners with Mother Jones.
It was in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The coal miners did hard labor for eight hours of every day except Sunday. The committee was trying to get better rights for them. Working alongside Mother Jones was a great honor. She is a very dedicated, determined, and driven activist. The police were absurd, putting her in house arrest in 1913. “Conspiring to commit murder,” that’s what the police said! Rubbish! Yes, she was a good person to have on your side. I will never forget what she said time and time again: “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

Your experiences with the strike committee caused you to write many poems. One of them turned out to become the lyrics of the union anthem, “Solidarity Forever.” What was going through your mind when you wrote that poem?
I was thinking about the union. The union changes everything, people take us more seriously and awareness is spread more efficiently. This is reflected mainly in the repeating verse that says “The union makes us strong,” “us” referring to the workers. I was also thinking about how we can overpower the unfair people that are making our lives hard. As one, we cannot do much, but as a union, we have power.


What role did you play in IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)?
I was the editor of the organization’s eastern U.S. publication, Solidarity. Later on, in 1992, I worked in Chicago as the editor of the IWW’s newspaper, the Industrial Worker. Both publications spread IWW’s ideas and beliefs across the U.S. I am also accredited for designing the black cat, which I made while working with the organization. It is the IWW’s symbol for sabotage.

Why did you create the black cat the way you did?
Well, first of all, you have to understand what the symbol looks like. It is a skinny black cat in a fighting stance. Its back is curved, and the hairs on its back are on end. The black color of it symbolizes that all of us [members of the IWW] are willing to die for the causes we fight for. Black is the color of death. Also, the fighting stance of the cat represents that the union is always fighting. There is an eternal war waging between the government and businesses and the IWW.

I guess you could say my life so far has been quite interesting. What matters to me the most though is that I am doing what I think is right.

-Vishal Rutanen-Whaley