ABSTRACT
Throughout the twentieth century, organized labor struggled to bring unionism to the workers of the South, who made up the least privileged and most exploited regional labor force in the United States. As the bitter labor conflicts of the 1930s showed, labor’s failure in the South did not always reflect a lack of interest on the part of working people in the potential benefits of organization. In 1933 and 1934, Southern laborers had flocked to the union banner in response to the new policies and encouragement of the Roosevelt administration. During the nationwide textile strike of 1934, textile workers challenged management in an effort to raise living standards through union organization. As a result of brutal management tactics, racial differences, and internal divisions within the workforce, the “uprising of 34” was suppressed and labor in the South suffered a major setback from which it has never fully recovered. With the collapse of the CIO’s “Operation Dixie” in the immediate postwar era, the fate of unionism in the South seemed assured. Against the odds, however, union-minded workers continued to challenge management in the staunchly antilabor textile industry. In the 1970s, the film Norma Rae told the story of these efforts in the nonunion city of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The result was a strong statement in labor’s cause.
