1913 Massacre

"1913 Massacre" is a topical ballad written by Woody Guthrie, and recorded and released in 1941 for Moses Asch's Folkways label. The song originally appeared on Struggle, an album of labor songs, it was eventually re-released in 1999 on Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4. The song is about the deaths of striking copper miners and their families in Calumet, Michigan, on Christmas Eve, 1913, commonly known as the Italian Hall disaster.

The Italian Hall Disaster (sometimes referred to as the 1913 Massacre) was a tragedy that occurred on December 24, 1913, in Calumet, Michigan. Seventy-three men, women, and children, mostly striking mine workers and their families, were crushed to death in a stampede when someone falsely shouted "fire" at a crowded Christmas party.