The Lewiston–Auburn shoe strike of 1937 occurred in the cities of

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...

and

Auburn, Maine Auburn is a city in south-central Maine, within the United States. Settled in the foothills of the Western Lakes and Mountains region of the state, The city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The popul ...

among textile workers, most of whom were of

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

descent. The workers walked off the job on March 25, 1937 demanding higher pay, a shorter workweek, better working conditions and union representation. Shortly after the strike began, the manufacturers offered a 10% wage increase, which was refused by the Strikers. By early April, 4,000 to 5,000 workers, including skilled and unskilled, were on strike. On April 21, workers and union organizers attempted to march across South Bridge (now Bernard Lown Peace Bridge), which connect Lewiston's Little Canada neighborhood and Auburn. Police and workers fought, including many women on the workers' side. Depicted in the

Lewiston Evening Journal The ''Sun Journal'' is a newspaper published in Lewiston, Maine, United States, which covers central and western Maine. In addition to its main office in Lewiston, the newspaper also maintains satellite news and sales bureaus in the Maine towns ...

as 'Red Wednesday', Governor Lewis Barrows called in the

Maine Army National Guard The Maine Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one-thir ...

. Overall, the strike ended with a loss for the workers on June 29, 1937. Powers Hapgood, the New England secretary for the

Committee for Industrial Organization A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

(CIO) at the time, arrived in Lewiston on March 12 to coordinate the strike. was jailed for two months for contempt of court for his role in continuing the strike in the wake of an injunction by a

Maine Supreme Judicial Court The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Between 1820 and 1839, justices served lifetime ...

justice forbidding strike activity. In 1992,

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

professor Robert Branham made a 55-minute documentary about the strike called "Roughing the Uppers: the Great Shoe Strike of 1937". Labor historian Charles Scontras said of the strike, "In the shoe strike, the wholesale violation of civil liberties prompted the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

to state that 'Maine is at least 100 years behind the time in labor laws'." In 2008, a mural depicting the history of Maine's workers, including a depiction of the Lewiston–Auburn shoe strike, was commissioned by Maine Arts Commission and put on display in the Maine Department of Labor. In March 2011, Republican Governor

Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 74th governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the mayor of Waterville, Maine, from 20 ...

, a staunchly pro-business politician, ordered the mural taken down, which in turn created statewide controversy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewiston-Auburn shoe strike Auburn, Maine Lewiston, Maine 1937 in Maine 1937 labor disputes and strikes Economic history of Maine Textile and clothing labor disputes in the United States Economy of Androscoggin County, Maine Labor disputes in Maine Shoemaking French-Canadian culture in Maine 1930s strikes in the United States