Biography
Elzie Philips was named with William Hudson and William Hightower among Harlan miners freed in the week preceding the December 17, 1935 report. The report establishes past imprisonment and completed release, but does not provide an individual initial arrest, statutory charge, precise discharge day or total time served. He is kept distinct from Floyd Philips and Myron Philips. Daily Worker, December 17, 1935, original PDF page 6. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n303-NY-dec-17-DW-Q.pdf#page=6
Labor Defender, March 1934, PDF page 25: Printed Elzie Phillips, he is identified in the prison-correspondence column by his wife Carrie Phillips, who thanks supporters for ten dollars sent for the family. The caption identifies him as a Black prisoner serving life at Frankfort, Kentucky, with one and a half years served at that intermediate reporting point. The Kentucky setting and distinctive Elzie Philips/Phillips name support the existing Harlan prisoner cross-reference; no exact dates, statutory charge or completed total is inferred. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1934/v10n03-mar-1934-orig-LD.pdf#page=25
The New Leader, April 2, 1932, page 10, individually names Elzie Phillips among nine Evarts coal-strike defendants confined in Clark County jail at Winchester, Kentucky, facing proceedings over mine guard Jim Daniels' death in the May 5 battle. It says the miners had been confined since the battle, at Harlan and then Winchester after a change of venue granted by Judge D. C. Jones. It announces trial for the coming Monday before Circuit Judge D. S. Shackelford and appeals for General Defense Committee funds to bring defense witnesses from Harlan. This is contemporary pretrial custody and defense evidence, not a completed trial, death sentence or release. The battle date is not automatically each defendant's individual arrest day. Later outcomes remain preserved. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-leader/1932/v13n14-apr-02-1932-NL.pdf
Labor Age, October 1932, PDF pages 17 and 33: Printed Elzie Phillips, he is identified as a Black Harlan miner convicted and sentenced to life during the special term after the cases returned to Harlan. This is an imposed sentence, not measured service. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/laborage/v21n10-oct-1932-labor-age.pdf#page=17
