Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
- Title:
- Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
- Years:
- 1968
- Description:
- Longstanding tensions between disgruntled African American sanitation workers and Memphis city officials erupted on February 12, 1968 when nearly one thousand workers refused to report to work demanding higher wages, safer working conditions, and recognition of their union, local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Despite organizing city-wide boycotts, sit-ins, and daily marches, the city's sanitation workers were initially unable to secure concessions from municipal officials. At the urging of Reverend James T. Lawson, Martin Luther King, Jr. agreed to come to Memphis and lead a nonviolent demonstration in support of the sanitation workers. On March 29 over five thousand demonstrators, carrying signs which read "I Am A Man," participated in King's march. However, the peaceful demonstration took a turn for the worse when an estimated two hundred participants began breaking storefront windows and looting. The ensuing violence resulted in the death of Larry Payne, a sixteen year old African American who was killed by Memphis police officers, the imposition of a city-wide curfew, and the mobilization of nearly four thousand National Guard troops. Deeply troubled by the violent outbreak, King vowed to return to Memphis to lead a peaceful demonstration. On April 3, 1968, nearly two months after the initial start of the strike, King returned to Memphis and delivered what would be his last public speech. The following evening King was assassinated on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. In the wake of King's death, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent James Reynolds, undersecretary of labor, to Memphis to help resolve the strike. Nearly two weeks later on April 16, the Memphis sanitation workers' strike ended when the city agreed to issue raises to African American employees and recognize the workers' union.
- Archival Collections And Reference Resources:
-
364 items in 10 collections (expand all)
AFL-CIO supporters of striking Memphis sanitation workers, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03
- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
Aftermath of protest on Beale Street, Memphis, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968
- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
Armed police on Beale Street, Memphis, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968
- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
Cleaning up broken glass on Vance Avenue, Memphis, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
Leaptrott, William - Date of Original:
- 1968
- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
Curfew violators, Memphis, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968-04
- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
Debris-strewn Memphis street, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03
- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
William Lucy oral history interview conducted by Emilye Crosby in Washington, D.C., 2013-06-25
- Creator:
- Civil Rights History Project (U.S.)
- Date of Original:
- 2013-06-25
- Collection:
- Civil Rights History Project
- Contributing Institution:
- American Folklife Center
Wyatt Tee Walker oral history interview conducted by David P. Cline in Richmond, Virginia, 2014 July 09
- Date of Original:
- 2014
- Collection:
- Civil Rights History Project
- Contributing Institution:
- American Folklife Center
Anne Stokes, 2010
- Date of Original:
- 2010-03-05
- Collection:
- Crossroads interviews
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Bill Short, 2007
- Date of Original:
- 2007-07-27
- Collection:
- Crossroads interviews
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Charles Mercer, 2006
- Date of Original:
- 2006-05-19
- Collection:
- Crossroads interviews
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Cheryl Fanion Cotton, 2015
- Date of Original:
- 2015-07-09
- Collection:
- Crossroads interviews
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Dorothy Crook, 2007
- Date of Original:
- 2007-05-21
- Collection:
- Crossroads interviews
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Eddie Mae Hawkins, 2006
- Date of Original:
- 2006-06-16
- Collection:
- Crossroads interviews
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Coretta Scott King
- Creator:
- Uffelman, Minoa D.
- Date of Original:
- 2008-03-12
- Collection:
- Encyclopedia of Alabama
- Contributing Institution:
- Encyclopedia of Alabama (Project)
Bill Farris, City Commissioner, 1982
- Date of Original:
- 1982-05-14
- Collection:
- Everett R. Cook Oral History Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Henry Loeb Jr., son of Memphis Mayor, 2004
- Date of Original:
- 2004-06-21
- Collection:
- Everett R. Cook Oral History Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Hunter Lane Jr., Public Works Commissioner and City Councilman, July 2004
- Date of Original:
- 2004-07-14
- Collection:
- Everett R. Cook Oral History Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Walter Armstrong, Board of Education President, 1982
- Date of Original:
- 1982-05-11
- Collection:
- Everett R. Cook Oral History Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Warren Lewis, head of the Black Knights, 1983
- Date of Original:
- 1983-10-04
- Collection:
- Everett R. Cook Oral History Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
I am a man
- Date of Original:
- 1968-04-04
- Collection:
- Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: The Collection
- Contributing Institution:
- Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
King's Last March
- Creator:
- Smith, Stephen
- Date of Original:
- 2008
- Collection:
- King's Last March
- Contributing Institution:
- American Public Media
LeMoyne Reflections on Sanitation Strike March Cover Page
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03-28
- Collection:
- LeMoyne-Owen Reflections on Sanitation Strike March
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
LeMoyne Reflections on Sanitation Strike March p. 9 -- J.H.
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03-28
- Collection:
- LeMoyne-Owen Reflections on Sanitation Strike March
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
LeMoyne Reflections on Sanitation Strike March pp. 1-3 -- R.C.
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03-28
- Collection:
- LeMoyne-Owen Reflections on Sanitation Strike March
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
LeMoyne Reflections on Sanitation Strike March pp. 10-12 -- E.W.
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03-28
- Collection:
- LeMoyne-Owen Reflections on Sanitation Strike March
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
LeMoyne Reflections on Sanitation Strike March pp. 102-104 -- J.P.
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03-28
- Collection:
- LeMoyne-Owen Reflections on Sanitation Strike March
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
LeMoyne Reflections on Sanitation Strike March pp. 105-108 -- E.Y.
- Date of Original:
- 1968-03-28
- Collection:
- LeMoyne-Owen Reflections on Sanitation Strike March
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)
- Creator:
- McCarty, Laura
- Date of Original:
- 2006-11-03
- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Contributing Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
"Death of Bessie Smith" Cast Discussion, c. 1968
- Date of Original:
- 1968
- Collection:
- Sanitation Strike Tapes
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Anthony Sabella, AFSCME Attorney, 1968
- Date of Original:
- 1968-09-04
- Collection:
- Sanitation Strike Tapes
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Arthur Crowns, Prof. of Sociology at Memphis State Univ., 1968
- Date of Original:
- 1968-05-13
- Collection:
- Sanitation Strike Tapes
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Ben Branch, Eye Witness to MLK Assassination, 1968
- Date of Original:
- 1968-08-15
- Collection:
- Sanitation Strike Tapes
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Bert Ferguson, President of WDIA Radio, 1968
- Date of Original:
- 1968-06-13
- Collection:
- Sanitation Strike Tapes
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
Bill Ross, Memphis AFL-CIO Labor Council, 1968
- Date of Original:
- 1968-07-16
- Collection:
- Sanitation Strike Tapes
- Contributing Institution:
- Rhodes College
- Educator Resources:
-
2 items in 2 collections (expand all)
1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike Chronology
- Date of Original:
- 2006
- Collection:
- Dr. King and the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees)
I Am a Man: An Exhibit Honoring the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike
- Date of Original:
- 2006
- Collection:
- I Am a Man: An Exhibit Honoring the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike
- Contributing Institution:
- Walter P. Reuther Library (Wayne State University)