Primary Source Set

Textile Workers & Labor Movements

The textile industry was a major part of North Carolina’s economy in the 20th century. Beginning in the 1920s, low pay, long hours, and dangerous working conditions led textile workers to organize into labor unions, which helped them negotiate for changes. This set uses photographs, newspaper clippings, and propaganda materials to build the story of one of North Carolina’s most famous labor movements—the Loray Mill strike of 1929—and the resurgence of unions in popular culture 50 years later.

Time Period

1920s-1930s and 1970s

Grade Level

8 – 12

Two newspaper clippings from The Chatham Record.

Transcript

PUBLIC SENTIMENT CONTROLS COURT ACTION IN GASTON AND MECKLENBURG It is manifest that public sentiment, which is strongly anti-union and anti-communist in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties, has dominated the courts in those counties. This statement is made upon the facts presented in the following brief review of court actions: Seven men were indicted for conspiracy to murder Chief Aderholt of Gastonia. Conspiracy is most difficult to prove. Yet the jury consulted only 57 minutes before bringing in a verdict of guilty. On the other hand, the Gaston grand jury declined to indict any one for the murder of Ella May Wiggins, a union mill worker, though there were eye-witnesses to the firing of shots by identified men, and when it is manifest that there is as much evidence of conspiracy in a mob’s stopping a truck load of union people, heading it back home, following, managing to overturn the truck, and in the confusion firing numerous shots, one of which killed an innocent and harmless woman, as there was brought to light of conspiracy in the Aderholt case. Public sentiment, in the main, was hostile to the first group of accused. The jury convicted. Public was hostile to the band with which poor Ella May had aligned herself, and the grand jury did not even return an indictment. Under those circumstances, it would be a guess as to whether the merits of either case determined the judicial result. In the former, the result and the merits of the case may have corresponded, but the probability is that it was the existing hostility toward the defendants that determined the issue, even granting the verdict to be the correct one. In the second case, the attitude of the Gaston grand jury has outraged the sense of justice and decency of the fair-minded and clear-thinking citizenry of the State. Hostile public sentiment has begotten a travesty of justice. It would be interesting, in this connection, to know just what, if any, influence the action of the Gaston grand jury in dismissing the case against the alleged slayers of Ella May Wiggins had on the action of the Chatham county grand jury, which the very day after the publication in the morning papers of the action of the Gaston grand jury, returned the bill against Officer Crutchfield marked “not a true bill.”

"Public Sentiment Controls Court Action in Gaston and Mecklenburg," The Chatham Record [October 31, 1929]

Content warning: Discussion of shooting, murder. This editorial article from The Chatham Record (October 31, 1929) compares the trial of the Gastonia workers accused of murdering Chief Aderholt to the trial of the men accused of murdering Ella May Wiggins. 

Contributed to DigitalNC by Chatham County Public Libraries

View Original View Transcript

Pittsboro, N.C. (Chatham County)

Textile Workers & Labor Movements

Print/Download

Background

In the 1920s and ‘30s, North Carolina was one of the largest producers of textiles in the country. This was partially due to the state’s natural resources, like cotton, and the demand for uniforms during World War I (1914-1918). Textile companies were also interested in the workers of North Carolina, who they could pay very low wages. As a result, many North Carolinians worked in textile mills that spun cotton into fabric for making clothes, blankets, towels, and other apparel products. Most of these workers faced long hours and dangerous working conditions among the machinery and fabric dyes in addition to low pay. However, the textile industry was so large that in many towns, mills were one of the few options for work. The challenge to find better jobs was made even harder after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed.

One of the ways that textile workers were able to petition for higher pay, fewer hours, and better working conditions was by joining a labor union and going on strike. A labor union is an organization of workers who use their combined power to negotiate for better pay and working conditions. If the workers are unable to come to an agreement with their boss, they may use a strike as a tool to add pressure. A strike is a protest where all of the workers stop doing their jobs, forcing a business to temporarily shut down.

One of the most famous strikes in North Carolina was at the Loray Mill in Gastonia in the summer of 1929. The Loray Mill was then one of the largest cotton mills in the South, employing about 5,000 people. The strike began with help from Northern union organizers Fred Beal and Ellen Dawson, who advocated for the National Textile Workers Union in Gastonia (NTWU). The NTWU’s association with the Communist Party led many townspeople to feel distrustful of the union, and members of the National Guard were called in by the Governor to mitigate violence. However, on June 7, 1929, local police visited the strikers’ tent camp, and Police Chief Aderholt was shot and killed. Several strikers were arrested on murder charges, including Beal. This led to surges of violence between strikers and anti-Communists, including the kidnapping of several workers and the assassination of Ella May Wiggins, a mill worker who wrote and performed ballads about working conditions. After Wiggins’ death, the strike ended without bargaining, leaving many of the area wary of labor unions.

Textile worker unions struggled to get a foothold in North Carolina after the Loray Mill strike. In 1934, when union membership rose under the federal protections of the F. D. Roosevelt administration, some 300,000-500,000 textile workers all along the East Coast went on strike. Though many from North Carolina participated, they did not receive increased pay or improved working conditions when the strike ended (though some improvements were made in the North, where unions were more powerful). As with the Loray Mill strike, this led many people to give up hope in labor unions. Finally, in 1947, North Carolina passed a right-to-work law, which greatly limits unions’ power.

Then, in the 1970s and ‘80s, unions reappeared in the public consciousness through the story of Crystal Lee Sutton, which was popularized in the fictional film Norma Rae (1979). Sutton was a textile worker in the J.P. Stevens mill in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. Frustrated by the pay and working conditions, Sutton helped build a coalition of Black and white textile workers who wanted to unionize. Though she was fired in 1978 for her efforts, the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) began to represent workers at the plant, and the union was able to secure a new contract and back pay for workers in 1980. Though Sutton said that Norma Rae does not represent her true life story, she did credit it for “teach[ing] people about unions.”

Discussion Questions

  1. Look at the photos of the outside and inside of the Loray Mill. How would you describe it? Have you ever seen a workplace like this before?

  2. What are some of the reasons that mill workers might want to unionize? Why might some workers not want to unionize? What risks did workers face in joining unions?

  3. Both the Loray Mill strike of 1929 and the J.P. Stevens strike in the 1970s were led by women (Ellen Dawson and Ella May Wiggins in 1929, and Crystal Lee Sutton in 1973). Why were women able to successfully take on leadership roles in these movements in decades when they had fewer civil liberties than men?

  4. Take a look at the two examples of pro-union propaganda, “The Danger of Being Scared Stiff” and “That message from Your Boss.” What do you think about these materials? Are they convincing? Why or why not?

  5. Compare “Public Sentiment Controls Court Action in Gaston and Mecklenburg,” from 1929 and  “Will Town Live Happily Ever After?” from 1980. Both articles talk about townspeople’s opposition to labor unions after the two strikes. What are some of the reasons that people distrusted unions? Why might the public side with the mills?

  6. Both Ella May Wiggins and Crystal Lee Sutton worked with Black mill workers and community members as they organized. How might the decision to join a union have been different for Black workers? What other risks or benefits would they face during these time periods?

  7. What about Crystal Lee Sutton’s story makes it a compelling choice for a movie? Since many people were distrustful of unions, why do you think Norma Rae (1979) was so popular?

This primary source set was compiled by Sophie Hollis.

Updated April 2024