Blood on the Cloth: Ella May Wiggins and the 1929 Gastonia Strike (new)

Amid the strife and upheaval in the American South of the 1920s, the 1929 Loray Mill Strike in Gastonia serves as an emblem of the violent textile labor disputes of the time. During this calamitous period, textile worker Ella May Wiggins became a labor leader who rallied people to the union cause with her impassioned speeches and moving ballads. In a letter, Wiggins wrote: “I never made no more than nine dollars a week, and you can’t do for a family on such money. I’m the mother of nine. Four died with the whooping cough. I was working nights. . . .So I had to quit, and then there wasn’t no money for medicine, and they just died. I couldn’t do for my children any more than you women on the money we git. That’s why I come out for the union, and why we all got to stand for the union, so’s we can do better for our children, and they won’t have lives like we got.” Wiggins was murdered by vigilantes, in part because as a union leader, she successfully united the African American and white workers in the Communist-affiliated National Textile Workers Union. Ella May Wiggins’ story figures prominently in NC’s labor history and the state’s violent and bloody clashes with unionists in subsequent decades.

Hard Times in the Mill: Working Lives Past and Present

The history of North Carolina's textile industry includes jobs migration, labor unions, and globalization, all of which parallel manufacturing industries in the world today. This presentation will focus on the state's rich textile heritage as told through the stories, songs, and images of the people who worked in the mills. While some mill owners practiced "welfare capitalism" and took care of their employees, others were more motivated by profits. Mill villages existed either as family-oriented communities or as high-rent company houses. Inside the mill, work was often low-paid, difficult, and dangerous. Child labor was common in the early years, and racial discrimination and sexism were rampant. Managers often implemented "stretch outs," efficiency systems that forced employees to work more for less money. In some desperate situations, workers organized unions and went on strike, often dividing family members and co-workers in bitter, violent disputes. Near the end of the twentieth century, the North Carolina textile industry rapidly declined, beginning a new cycle of job migration with workers around the globe facing many of the same challenges as their American counterparts from an earlier century.

Though they have often been silent, North Carolina women who have been on strike have powerful stories to tell. Their voices are rarely heard in a state that has consistently maintained the lowest rate of unionism. These women worked in textiles, telecommunications, tire manufacturing, and paper production in disputes that span the decades from the General Textile Strike of 1934 to strikes in 1999 and 2001. Some of their stories tell of finding strength and resilience in "men's jobs," competing in non-traditional jobs for women. Other narratives tell of their many sacrifices as the women suppressed their own needs to organize and participate in unions while also taking care of their families or co-workers. A third group of stories reveals the women's evolution from unionists to activists, demonstrating their solidarity with union sisters and brothers while they advocate for economic and social justice. A fourth set of narratives centers on union feminists' stories of leadership in promoting gender and racial equality, workplace democracy, and community justice. As a result of their participation in labor disputes, these North Carolina women have woven powerful tapestries of protest, resistance, hope, and transcendence.

Requirements for Program: Blood on the Cloth– lectern, microphone, screen, computer, multimedia projector (if possible)
Hard Times in the Mill and The Fabric of Hope and Resistance– lectern, screen