- Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike
- Title:
- Police and protesters on Main Street, Memphis, 1968
- Creator:
- Memphis press scimitar
- Date of Original:
- 1968-02-23
- Subject:
- Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968
Strikes and lockouts--Tennessee--Memphis
Sanitation workers--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights movements--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights--African Americans--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights demonstrations--Tennessee--Memphis
Memphis (Tenn.)--Race relations
Race relations
Race discrimination--Tennessee--Memphis
Strikes and lockouts--Sanitation--Tennessee--Memphis
Strikes and lockouts--Refuse collectors--Tennessee--Memphis
Police--Tennessee--Memphis
Police brutality--Tennessee--Memphis
African American civil rights workers--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights workers--Tennessee--Memphis
African American civil rights workers--Violence against--Tennessee--Memphis
Civil rights workers--Violence against--Tennessee--Memphis
Violence--Tennessee--Memphis
Stores, Retail--Tennessee--Memphis
Central business districts--Tennessee--Memphis - Location:
- United States, Tennessee, Shelby County, Memphis, 35.14953, -90.04898
- Medium:
- black-and-white photographs
- Type:
- StillImage
- Format:
- image/jpeg
- Description:
- Black-and-white photograph from February 23, 1968 taken by the Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee. In the photograph, striking sanitation workers flee Memphis police with tear gas on Main Street in February 1968.
The Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike began on February 11, 1968, following years of dangerous working conditions, discrimination, and the work-related deaths of two African American sanitation workers. Led by local clergy, including Methodist pastor James Lawson, community members engaged in boycotts, mass meetings, marches, and other civil disobedience in support of the strike. On February 23, the Memphis City Council refused to recognize the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and later that day, police used mace on a demonstration that included striking sanitation workers, women, children, and clergy. The strike ended April 12, 1968.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. - Local Identifier:
- sc.0475.90012_01.030
- Metadata URL:
- https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-swstrike/98
- Original Collection:
- 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike, PS 90012, University of Memphis Libraries Special Collections, Memphis, Tennessee
- Contributing Institution:
- University of Memphis. Libraries. Special Collections Department
- Rights:
-
