Page "We Shall Overcome" Paragraph 21

In the fall of 1945 in Charleston, South Carolina, members of the Food and Tobacco Workers Union ( who were mostly female and African American ), began a five-month strike against the American Tobacco Company.

To keep up their spirits during the cold, wet winter of 1945-46, one of the strikers, a woman named Lucille Simmons, led a slow " long meter style " version of the gospel hymn, " We'll Overcome " ( I'll Be All Right ") to end each day's picketing.

Union organizer, Zilphia Horton, who was the wife of the co-founder of the Highlander Folk School ( later Highlander Research and Education Center ), learned it from Lucille Simmons.

Horton was ( 1935 – 56 ) Highlander's music director, and it became her custom to end group meetings each evening by leading this, her favorite song.

During the Presidential Campaign of Henry A. Wallace, " We Will Overcome " was printed in Bulletin No. 3 ( Sept., 1948 ), 8, of People's Songs with an introduction by Horton saying that she had learned it from the interracial Congress of Industrial Organizations ( CIO ) Food and Tobacco Workers ' Union workers and had found it to be extremely powerful.

Pete Seeger, a founding member, and for three years Director of People's Songs, learned it from Horton's version in 1947.

Seeger writes: " I changed it to ' We shall '...

I think I liked a more open sound ; ' We will ' has alliteration to it, but ' We shall ' opens the mouth wider ; the ' i ' in ' will ' is not an easy vowel to sing well [...].

" Seeger also added some verses (" We'll walk hand in hand " and " The whole wide world around ").