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Ella Mae Wiggins killed... Loray Mill Strike...
Ella Mae Wiggins killed... Loray Mill Strike...
Item # 723405
September 15, 1929
THE SPRINGFIELD SUNDAY REPUBLICAN, Mass., Sept. 15, 1929
* Ella Mae Wiggins killed (1st report)
* Loray Mill Strike - Gastonia, North Carolina
* Labor history of the United States
* Female aviator Amelia Earhart photo
The top of the front page has a one column heading: "MOTHER IS SLAIN BY MOB FOLLOWING TEXTILE WORKERS" with subheads. (see images)
Also a nice two column photo of Amelia Earhart.
Complete with 40+ pages, light toning and some at the margins, tiny binding holes along the spine, generally in good condition.
AI notes: The 1929 Gastonia incident, more commonly known as the Loray Mill Strike, was a violent and pivotal labor conflict in Gastonia, North Carolina, during which textile workers protested oppressive working conditions, low pay, and the exploitative “stretch-out” system at one of the South’s largest mills. Beginning in April with roughly 1,800 workers walking off the job under the banner of the National Textile Workers Union, the strike quickly escalated as the mill fired union supporters and evicted striking families, forcing many to live in a tent colony on the town’s outskirts. Tensions erupted into violence over the summer, culminating in the fatal shooting of Gastonia Police Chief Orville Aderholt in June and the murder of union speaker and ballad singer Ella May Wiggins in September, events that shocked the nation and drew intense media scrutiny. Despite the strike’s ultimate failure to secure wage increases, union recognition, or improved conditions, the Gastonia incident became a lasting symbol of the harsh struggles faced by Southern industrial workers, highlighting both the courage of labor activists and the entrenched resistance of mill owners and local authorities, and influencing the discourse around labor rights and unionization during the early twentieth century.
Category: The 20th Century
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