On this day in Labor History the year was 1929.
That was the day that Ella Mae Wiggins was gunned down on her way to a rally of striking textile workers in North Carolina.
Ella Mae was born in the mountains of Tennessee.
Her father was a lumber jack who was killed on the job.
She and her brother then entered the textile mills to help support their family.
She married another mill employee and they had seven children.
When her husband left her, Ella Mae struggled to keep her family afloat.
When the Great Depression came textile mill workers were subjected to the “stretch out.”
Owners demanded that fewer workers quicken their pace to produce the same results.
In response textile workers began to organize and strike in Gaston County, the heart of the Southern textile industry.
Ella Mae became a local leader of the National Textile Workers’ Union.
She advocated organizing both white and black workers.
She became known for leading the other workers in song.
One of her most poignant songs was The Mill Mothers Lament.
The lyrics told her personal struggle of a mother trying to support her children.
On the day she was killed, Ella Mae was in a truck heading to a workers rally.
They were met by an armed mob, deployed by the mill owners.
The unarmed workers turned their truck around, but the mob chased them and gunned down Ella Mae.
Five people were charged but they were acquitted of her murder.
April 2 - Trouble in the Sweetest Place on Earth
April 1 - The Promise of 1946
March 31 - Hospital Workers Stand United
March 30 - 15th Amendment Adopted
March 29 - West Coast Hotel v Parrish Decided
March 28 - Partial Meltdown at Three Mile Island
March 27 - FE Strikers Battle Police at Harvester
March 26 - Police Attack UE Amid ‘46 Strike Wave
March 25 - Centralia Coal Mine #5 Explodes
March 24 - Exxon Valdez Runs Aground
March 23 - Texas City Refinery Explosion Kills 15
March 22 - ERA Passes the Senate
March 21 - Truman Signs Loyalty Order
March 20 - Another Deadly Explosion
March 19 - Wartime President Pushes for Labor Peace
March 18 - Wartime Workers Betrayed
March 17 - The Hoggs Hollow Tragedy
March 16 - Big Bill Haywood Talks General Strike
March 15 - The Grapes of Wrath Opens in Theaters
March 14 - Remembering Walter Crane
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