1945–1946 Charleston Cigar Factory Strike
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The 1945–1946 Charleston Cigar Factory strike was a
labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became co ...
involving workers at the Cigar Factory in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
, United States. The strike commenced on October 22, 1945, and ended on April 1 of the following year, with the strikers winning some concessions from the company. The strike took place at the Cigar Factory, a production facility owned by the
American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...
(ATC). The company had been operating the plant since 1903 as a racially segregated workplace, with
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
and
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
working in different positions and for different pay. During World War II, workers at the plant
unionized A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
under the
Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers The United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America union (UCAPAWA) changed its name to Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA) in 1944. History The FTA sought to further organize cannery units and realized the ...
(FTA) of the
Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of Labor unions in the United States, unions that organized workers in industrial unionism, industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in ...
, becoming FTA-CIO
Local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
15. The union agreed to not conduct any strike action for the duration of the conflict, and in turn the company agreed to institute pay raises after the war was over. By that time, the factory was employing about 1,400 employees, a majority African American. However, after the war's end in September 1945, the company reneged on its agreement and refused to negotiate with the union. Additionally, the company was slow in issuing backpay to workers that they had earned during the war. This, coupled with the firing of an African American worker in a move viewed by many employees as racially charged, led to a series of
sitdown strike A sit-down strike (or simply sitdown) is a labour strike and a form of civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers, usually employed at factories or other centralized locations, take unauthorized or illegal possession of the workpl ...
s and
walkout In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...
s. Finally, on October 22, workers at the Cigar Factory went on strike. They were joined by FTA workers at other ATC plants in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, and
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
, who went on solidarity strikes with the Charleston workers, and the national union instituted a
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
against ATC products. In addition to demands regarding pay and protections against racial discrimination, the strikers also pushed for the Cigar Factory to become a
closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...
. While a majority of the people on strike were
black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, maintaining solidarity along different racial lines was seen as crucial to winning the strike, and the local union began to hold integrated meetings, something they had not previously done. Additionally, the strikers were able to garner support from a wide array of sources in Charleston, including among African American activists and white
progressives Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...
. This support proved essential for continuing the strike into the winter months. Despite a ruling by the
National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
that mandated the company to issue backpay on November 8, the union decided to remain on strike until all of their demands were met. As a result, the strike continued until March of the following year when the company finally agreed to some concessions, including an 8 cent per hour raise and agreements to ease the racial barriers that barred many African Americans from higher-paying positions in the company. By this point, the number of strikers, which had been around 1,000 at the beginning of the strike, had diminished significantly, and the union quickly accepted the deal, with the strike ending on April 1. The strike is noted by historians as one of the few examples of a united biracial coalition in the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
at the time, with the
Preservation Society of Charleston Founded in 1920, the Preservation Society of Charleston is the oldest community-based historic preservation organization in the United States. Susan Pringle Frost founded the organization, first known as the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwe ...
stating that "the Cigar Factory strike was revolutionary in its illustration of the power of a unified voice". However, this coalition would not be sustained in the following years, as
anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...
and segregationist sentiments eroded support for Local 15 among many of the white workers, who organized their own local union. By the 1960s, due to changes in the tobacco industry, the plant experienced massive layoffs. It was closed permanently in 1973. The strike is also notable as the place where the modern version of the gospel hymn and civil rights anthem "
We Shall Overcome "We Shall Overcome" is a gospel song that is associated heavily with the U.S. civil rights movement. The origins of the song are unclear; it was thought to have descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day," a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, while t ...
" was first performed.


Background


The Cigar Factory

During the late 1800s, influential business leaders and boosters in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
, sought to encourage increased industrial development in the city. At the time, Charleston was the economic center of the state, but was not developing as rapidly as some other major cities in the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
, and much of the state's
textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...
was based in
Upstate South Carolina The Upstate, historically known as the Upcountry, is a region of the U.S. state of South Carolina, comprising the northwesternmost area of the state. Although loosely defined among locals, the general definition includes the 10 counties of the ...
. In 1882, as part of this push for industry in South Carolina, the Charleston Manufacturing Company began operations at a newly built
cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...
in the city's Hampstead neighborhood, which would eventually become known as the Charleston Cotton Mills. This five-story building, which was constructed in the Victorian style, occupied an entire city block at the intersection of East Bay Street and Columbus Street, several blocks away from Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and overlooking the Cooper River. When it first opened, the plant only hired
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
in custodial positions, while textile jobs were performed by local
white Americans White Americans (sometimes also called Caucasian Americans) are Americans who identify as white people. In a more official sense, the United States Census Bureau, which collects demographic data on Americans, defines "white" as " person hav ...
under the supervision of experienced workers from cotton mills in the
Northern United States The Northern United States, commonly referred to as the American North, the Northern States, or simply the North, is a geographical and historical region of the United States. History Early history Before the 19th century westward expansion, the ...
. However, in 1897, due to poor business, the plant began to accept African American workers to certain positions that had previously been off-limits. The plant closed shortly thereafter, and an effort to revive the plant two years later with a workforce that included
black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
from the nearby
Sea Islands The Sea Islands are a chain of over a hundred tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States, between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns rivers along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The la ...
also failed. The plant remained dormant for several years until the property was leased to the
American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...
(ATC), which converted the plant from a cotton mill to a
cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
factory. By 1912, the company purchased the plant outright, and it would eventually become known locally simply as the Cigar Factory. Like the cotton mill before it, this plant hired both black and white people, with black workers performing separate tasks from the white workers, such as creating
cigar box A cigar box is a box container for cigar packaging. Traditionally, cigar boxes have been made of wood, cardboard or paper. Spanish cedar has been described as the "best" kind of wood for cigar boxes because of its beautiful grain, fine texture ...
es or processing
tobacco leaves Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...
. By the 1930s, the plant employed about 1,400 people, of whom 60 percent were women, and had an annual
payroll A payroll is a list of employment, employees of a company who are entitled to receive compensation as well as other work benefits, as well as the amounts that each should obtain. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time ...
of approximately $1 million. At its peak of production, the plant was creating 1.5 million cigars per day. The plant attracted many African American workers as it offered some of the highest wages available to them in the city, though they had to contend with both the physically demanding nature of the work and constant
racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...
from management.


FTA-CIO Local 15

In the 1940s, during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, workers at the plant organized under a
local union A local union (often shortened to local), in North America, or union branch (known as a lodge in some unions), in the United Kingdom and other countries, is a local branch (or chapter) of a usually national trade union. The terms used for sub-bran ...
of the
United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America The United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA) was a labor union formed in 1937 and incorporated large numbers of Mexican, black, Asian, and Anglo food processing workers under its banner. The founders envisioned ...
(UCAPAWA), a
labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of Labor unions in the United States, unions that organized workers in industrial unionism, industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in ...
(CIO). The UCAPAWA changed its name shortly after the Charleston workers organized with it, becoming the
Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers The United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America union (UCAPAWA) changed its name to Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA) in 1944. History The FTA sought to further organize cannery units and realized the ...
(FTA), with the local union at the Cigar Factory becoming FTA-CIO Local 15. On September 1, 1944, they voted to approve their first union contract, and leaders of Local 15 began to negotiate with ATC management. The union agreed to abide by a guideline set by the National War Labor Board (NWLB) that barred the union from engaging in any
strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...
, and while the company did not institute immediate pay raises, they did agree to raise workers' pay after the war was over. Under the terms of the agreement, black workers would receive a pay raise from 25 cents per hour to 40 cents per hour, while white workers who were
machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...
s and
supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...
s would be paid 65 cents per hour. During the war, despite an
excess profits tax An excess profits tax, EPT, is a tax on returns or profits which exceed risk-adjusted ''normal'' returns. The concept of ''excess profit'' is very similar to that of economic rent. Excess profit taxes are usually imposed on monopolist industries ...
, the ATC experienced significant growth and record profits, with their workforce at the Cigar Factory expanding to almost 2,000 employees. Additionally, following the war's conclusion in 1945, the company received roughly $1.3 million in refunds from the excess profits tax. With World War II over, the Cigar Factory employed about 1,400 workers, of whom about 900 were black women, and roughly 1,000 were Local 15 members. On September 24, 1945, Local 15 members voted to approve a new contract that called for increased wages and backpay that had been guaranteed during the war. The following month, the NWLB also ordered ATC to pay their workers some wages that had been withheld by the company from December 1944 to October 1945. However, company executives ignored the order and Harold F. McGinnis, the manager of the Cigar Factory, also refused to honor the local union's contract. On October 1, McGinnis fired a black male employee after his white female supervisor accused him of "taking familiarities" with some of the female employees in the plant, a move that many Local 15 members saw as racially charged. With the firing and the failure to honor their contract, tensions increased dramatically between the company and the union, and on October 3, Local 15 president Reuel Stanfield organized a
sitdown strike A sit-down strike (or simply sitdown) is a labour strike and a form of civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers, usually employed at factories or other centralized locations, take unauthorized or illegal possession of the workpl ...
. Over the next two days, about one hundred workers participated, remaining idle by their workstations to protest the company, and on October 4, about 900 African American employees performed a
walkout In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...
after the fired employee was not given his job back. In light of these events, on October 5, McGinnis met with Stanfield to discuss the workers' grievances. However, during the meeting, McGinnis offered no firm plans on how to handle their grievances, and following the meeting, the company's process for issuing backpay was slow. This was not an issue that was unique to the Cigar Factory, as workers at other ATC plants in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, and
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
, also voiced their displeasure at backpay issues and discrimination. As a result of this, the FTA decided to initiate a solidarity strike at all three of these ATC plants, and on October 15, workers at the Philadelphia plant became the first to go on strike. Workers at the Charleston plant would go on strike as well one week later, on October 22.


Course of the strike

The October 22 strike action at the Cigar Factory involved a walkout of about 1,000 workers, a majority of whom were black women. The workers' demands included a 25 cent per hour raise, the issuance of backpay, and a
closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...
model for the plant that would have required new hires to join the union.
Picket lines Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pic ...
were established outside of the factory, with strikers carrying placards that stated their demands and singing
spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the exp ...
. During these pickets, the strikers faced harassment from police officers and segregationists, and on several occasions there were physical confrontations between the strikers and
strikebreaker A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the orga ...
s that the company had brought in to keep the plant operating. Additionally, the union launched a
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
against ATC products. On October 25, several days after the Charleston workers went on strike, workers at the ATC plant in Trenton also joined the Philadelphia and Charleston workers in a solidarity strike. The following day, on October 26, Local 15 held its first integrated meeting at the Morris Street Baptist Church. Prior to this, the local had often held separate meetings for its black and white members, but strike leaders felt that maintaining solidarity among the union members was crucial to winning their demands. Because of ATC's refusal to issue backpay in spite of orders from the federal government, the union filed a complaint with the
National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
(NLRB), who sent a representative of theirs to Charleston on November 8 to investigate the matter. That same day, Stanfield was attacked by four individuals while at the union's offices, and while the NLRB representative and others positively identified the four assailants to police officers who arrested them, the police declined to file charges against the men and released them. Ultimately, the NLRB ruled in favor of the union and ordered the company to pay workers at the Charleston plant $120,000 in backpay that was owed to them. Several days later, on November 15, a group of about 1,000 strikers gathered at the plant in a massive demonstration, following which ATC agreed to issue the backpay. Despite rumors that this would bring an end to the strike, the FTA decided to keep the strike ongoing at the three ATC plants until all of the workers' grievances were addressed. As a result, the strike continued past the fall and into winter, during which time Charleston experienced unusually extreme weather phenomena, including
freezing rain Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below melting point, freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike rain and snow mixed, a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made en ...
and snow. However, the strike persisted thanks in large part to support from many local activists and organizations. Labor and civil rights activists Karl and Frances Rogers Korstad, who had had experience in organized labor in the tobacco industry, traveled to Charleston early on in the strike and used their connections to get the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW) to lend financial and vocal support for the strike. SCHW co-founders Virginia Foster Durr and Clark Foreman helped to establish the Emergency Committee to Aid Families of American Tobacco Company Strikers, and a permanent local chapter of the SCHW was founded in Charleston. Ultimately, these efforts were able to attract a large base of support for the strike among both black civil rights activists and white
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
progressives Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...
. For much of the strike, McGinnis and management at the Cigar Factory refused to meet with union leaders or negotiate, and as a result the strike continued for several months. However, by March 1946, the company was willing to negotiate an end to the labor dispute, as the strike and boycott had hurt the company's public image and there were concerns that the NLRB would become involved. As a result, in the last week of March, the company agreed to certain concessions that were readily accepted by the union. These concessions included a pay raise of 8 cents per hour and an agreement to ease racial barriers to certain skilled positions within the factory. By this point, there were few strikers left actively picketing the factory, and while the concessions fell short of the workers' initial demands, they returned to work on April 1, bringing an end to the strike.


Aftermath


Fate of the Cigar Factory

The passage of the
Taft–Hartley Act The Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of trade union, labor unions. It was enacted by the 80th United S ...
in 1947 severely hurt the FTA, which had several ties to communist organizations and individuals, and as a result, Local 15 became associated instead with the Distributive, Processing, and Office Workers of America (DPO) of the CIO. Around this same time, many white workers at the factory abandoned DPO Local 15 and joined the white-only Tobacco Workers International Union (TWIU) Local 257, which competed with Local 15 for influence at the plant. By the mid-1950s, Local 257, which was considered a
company union A company or "yellow" union is a worker organization which is dominated or unduly influenced by an employer and is therefore not an independent trade union. Company unions are contrary to international labour law (see ILO Convention 98, Article ...
, had become a serious threat to Local 15's influence. Additionally, by the 1960s, the factory was experiencing the negative effects of changes in the tobacco industry related to increased competition from foreign companies and a requirement from the federal government to add
tobacco packaging warning messages Tobacco package warning messages are Warning label, warning messages that appear on the Cigarette pack, packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products concerning their Health effects of tobacco, health effects. They have been implemented in a ...
to their products. As a result, in 1966, the Cigar Factory laid off 900 workers, and in 1973, the factory closed permanently, having operated continuously for about 70 years. In 1980,
Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its cam ...
began using the facility as for classroom space, and that same year, the building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. In 2013, a
historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...
was added outside the building that gave information on the strike, and the following year, the property was purchased by a private company that converted it into a
mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
. In 2016, the cigar factory and the strike were the subject of a historical fiction novel written by Michele Moore and published by Story River Books.


Historical significance

Some historians note that the strike was significant in bringing together black and white individuals towards a common goal, a rarity in the Southern United States at the time. In an article on the strike, the
Preservation Society of Charleston Founded in 1920, the Preservation Society of Charleston is the oldest community-based historic preservation organization in the United States. Susan Pringle Frost founded the organization, first known as the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwe ...
stated that, "In the 1940s south, the Cigar Factory strike was revolutionary in its illustration of the power of a unified voice". A 2016 book by historians Herb Frazier, Bernard Edward Powers Jr., and Marjory Wentworth echoes these same sentiments, stating that the strike was "far ahead of its time" for uniting black and white economic interests. Many of the individuals who were involved in the strike would later be active in the civil rights movement that would begin several years after the strike ended, and in Charleston during this time there was a surge in political activity among African Americans, such as with the formation of the Progressive Democratic Party. Other sources view the strike as part of a long history of organized labor activity among African Americans in Charleston, including activities among organized longshoremen and the 1969 Charleston hospital strike, the latter of which drawing inspiration from the Cigar Factory strike. However, the strike would prove to be one of the last major biracial movements in the city. According to Frazier, Powers, and Wentworth, "The divisions between working-class Southerners of both races increased under the pressures of
anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...
and anti-integration rhetoric that was soon to come".


"We Shall Overcome"

The
gospel song Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compos ...
"
We Shall Overcome "We Shall Overcome" is a gospel song that is associated heavily with the U.S. civil rights movement. The origins of the song are unclear; it was thought to have descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day," a hymn by Charles Albert Tindley, while t ...
" traces its origins back to the 1800s, when it was used as a work song sung by slaves in the United States, and in 1901 a version was published by the
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
minister
Charles Albert Tindley Charles Albert Tindley (July 7, 1851July 26, 1933) was an African-American Methodist Minister (Christianity), minister and gospel music composer. His composition "I'll Overcome Someday" is credited as the basis for the U.S. Freedom Songs, Civil R ...
titled "I'll Overcome Someday". During the Cigar Factory strike, Lucille Simmons, a striker and longtime employee of the factory, would sing a modified version of this gospel song, which became known as "We Will Overcome", to signify the end of picketing for the day. According to a 2016 article in ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'', Simmons's performances would be " e first widely acknowledged performance of the modern song". In 1947, two members of Local 15, Anna Lee Bonneau and Evelyn Risher, traveled to the
Highlander Folk School The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West ...
in
Monteagle, Tennessee Monteagle is a town in Franklin, Grundy, and Marion counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Cumberland Plateau region of the southeastern part of the state. The population was 1,238 at the 2000 census – 804 of the town's 1,238 re ...
, to attend a workshop. There, they introduced the song to civil rights activist Zilphia Horton, who sang it for activist and folk singer
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
later that year. Seeger is generally regarded as popularizing the song, with the name "We Shall Overcome", which became a major anthem in the civil rights movement. The 2013 historical marker at the Cigar Factory gives information regarding the singing of the song during the strike.


See also

*
US Strike wave of 1945–1946 US or Us most often refers to: * Us (pronoun), ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainme ...


Notes


References


Sources

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Further reading

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External links

* 1945 in South Carolina 1945 labor disputes and strikes 1946 in South Carolina 1946 labor disputes and strikes 1940s strikes in the United States African-American history in Charleston, South Carolina American Tobacco Company Boycotts Cigar makers strikes Congress of Industrial Organizations History of Charleston, South Carolina Labor disputes in South Carolina Manufacturing industry labor disputes in the United States Events in Charleston, South Carolina Labour disputes and strikes in the aftermath of World War II {{DEFAULTSORT:1945-1946 Charleston Cigar Factory strike