Biography
E. Phillips was a Black coal miner jailed in Harlan County, Kentucky, during the 1931 coal strike. He was indicted for first-degree murder after the Battle of Evarts and was among the miners awaiting trial in the county jail. The International Labor Defense organized legal assistance and relief for the prisoners and their families.
The September 11, 1931 report published September 12 individually names five Black Harlan miners awaiting first-degree-murder proceedings in the county jail. The front page prints Harry Oliver, while the continuation prints Henry Oliver with the same cohort; this is retained as a source variant rather than a second prisoner. The account confirms ongoing jail without supplying individual intake, physical release or complete duration. Its trial forecasts and death-penalty threats are not completed proceedings. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1931/v08-n220-NY-sep-12-1931-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
The roster places the Harlan defendant in Frankfort penitentiary under a life sentence. This supplies a reported imposed sentence after the earlier awaiting-trial account; no admission, release or completed duration is inferred. Labor Defender, September 1934, original PDF page 18. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1934/v10n08-sep-1934-orig-LD.pdf#page=18
The December 9 issue prints their signed letter from Winchester County jail, where these four Black miners awaited trial on murder charges arising from Harlan labor activity. The letter describes poor food and asks for books and support. No exact arrest or physical discharge day or complete duration is established. Daily Worker, December 9, 1931, original PDF page 2. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1931/v08-n295-NY-dec-09-1931-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The December 19, 1935 Daily Worker reported that William Hudson, Elzie Phillips and William Hightower had been released during the previous week. It described parole after commutation of their life sentences to four and a half years. This report establishes December release at month precision; the imposed term is not a measured served duration.
The January 1932 Labor Defender winter-aid roster individually lists E. Phillips at Clark County Jail at Winchester, Kentucky. This is a contemporary custody-location observation, not an admission or release date; the roster gives no prisoner number or individual custody duration.
Labor Defender, January 1932, PDF page 10, winter-aid roster.
Titler calls the Evarts defendant Ezra Phillips, nicknamed Big Segar, and groups him with William Hightower and William Hudson as freed in December 1935. The grouping supports comparison with contemporary E. Phillips/Elzie Phillips reporting. The memoir spelling is retained as a source variant; it does not establish a second prisoner or override the contemporary name and commutation/parole terminology.
