About Us
Our namesake
Harry Simms Hersh, 1911-1932
Harry Simms was born on Christmas Day, 1911 in Springfield, Massachusetts. At age 20, at the height of the Great Depression, he joined the National Miners Union and went to Harlan County, Kentucky to help organize striking coal miners.
On February 10, 1932, he was accosted and shot by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy that worked as a gun thug for the mine owner. He died the following day.
His funeral drew a crowd of more than 20,000 people. He was immortalized in song by Pete Seeger and others.
His memory and spirit live on.