Last edited Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:53 PM - Edit history (1)
Aunt Molly Jackson was truly a larger-than-life figure from the Kentucky coalfields. Folk musician/composer/songwriter, midwife, union activist, Aunt Molly was what can be described as an old fashioned rabble rouser whose compassion for the poor and rage at social injustice confounded the coal operators and at times, even her own family. From childhood she had a reputation as a weaver of tall tales, a reputation she carried throughout her life as she was no stranger to embellishing her own history -- as if Molly's life story wasn't colorful enough in itself.
What I've done here is to provide a few links -- first, to a short biography, followed by other links to some videos, testimony and audio recordings. Enjoy!
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA05/luckey/amj/kentucky.htm
Pistol Packin' Molly Jackson
Early Years in Kentucky
A ninth-generation Kentuckian, Mary Magdalene Garland (whose name would later grow to include Mills, Stewart, Jackson, and Stamos) was born in 1880 in Clay County and wrote her first song at the age of four. From her great-grandmother, Nancy MacMahan, young Molly acquired a repertoire of more than 100 old songs, which folk collector Alan Lomax would later record her singing for the Library of Congress archive…
…Never one to keep her mouth shut, Jackson often spoke out angrily when she observed instances of social injustice in the community—many times at the cost of her husband's mining job. In one such instance, Jim Stewart was fired after his wife distributed her song "Fare Thee Well, Old Ely Branch" at the spring where the miners' wives came for water. Jim Garland described Jackson's pugnacious nature in this way:
She was at the height of her glory when she was giving someone she thought was no good a hard time. If she believed someone was taking advantage of his or her position in life, whether that was a coal operator, a husband who beat his wife, a man who would not support his family, or a bookkeeper who denied some needy family scrip to buy food with, she made her feelings known. These troublemaking instincts led her to write many a fine song....
For more information on Aunt Molly Jackson, see:
http://encyclopediaofappalachia.com/entry.php?rec=121
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA05/luckey/amj/harlan.htm
Videos:
Aunt Molly Jackson Hardtimes In Coleman's Mines
Aunt Molly - Hungry Ragged Blues (pt. 2)
Si Kahn - Aunt Molly Jackson 1 of 2
Si Kahn - Aunt Molly Jackson 2 of 2
Testimony:
Lyrics to “I am a Union Woman” and Aunt Molly’s testimony before the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, Straight Creek, Kentucky, November 7, 1931
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/unionwomanmollyjackson.html
Recordings:
The Songs and Stories of Aunt Molly Jackson
http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Stories-Aunt-Molly-Jackson/dp/B00242VQAK
itunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/songs-stories-aunt-molly-jackson/id274217020
= new reply since forum marked as read