Embedded Files
Cover Photo: Jerry Wurf celebrates with officers of local 1733 and supporters after ratification.
Copley, Richard L., “Victory in Memphis,” I Am A Man, accessed January 13, 2023, https://projects.lib.wayne.edu/iamaman/items/show/202
Historical Context
Historical Context
After 65 days of striking, boycotting, marching, and organizing, and 12 days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mayor Loeb finally negotiated with union representatives. However, he remained steadfast in his attitude towards the striking workers and the union, claiming he "didn't capitulate one bit" (Honey, p. 490). Union leader T.O. Jones brought the proposed agreement back to the striking workers to be voted on, and the terms were accepted unanimously.
Key Terms and Reactions
Key Terms and Reactions
Source 1 Document Based Questions
Source 1 Document Based Questions
What did you learn from the video?
What stands out to you? Why?
How did the Sanitation Strike end?
What was the impact of the Sanitation Strike?
Key terms for the contract AFSCME Local 1733 signed with the City of Memphis to improve working conditions for sanitation workers.
“Key Contract Terms,” I Am A Man, accessed January 13, 2023, https://projects.lib.wayne.edu/iamaman/items/show/205.
Source 2 Document Based Questions
Source 2 Document Based Questions
What kind of document is this? How do you know?
How do the victories of the striking sanitation workers compare to their original demands? (Refer back to source 6.)
Do you consider this a victory? Why or why not?
The strike lasted 65 days. Why do you think it took so long to come to this agreement?
How do you think the strike and these victories have impacted sanitation workers today?
Following the settlement of the Memphis sanitation workers' strike, a sanitation worker goes back to work in April 1968.
"Memphis sanitation workers' strike ends, 1968" (2021). Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike, 1968. 38.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-swstrike/38
Source 3 Document Based Questions
Source 3 Document Based Questions
What do you see in this photo?
How do you think this man is feeling? Why?
Who else might be feeling this way at the end of the strike? Why?
If this man had a social media account, (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.), what do you think he would post on this day?
Cartoon about the success of AFSCME and civil rights leaders winning the sanitation workers union recognition and improved working conditions after a 65 day strike.
Bernard Seaman, “Garbage Cartoon,” I Am A Man, accessed January 13, 2023, https://projects.lib.wayne.edu/iamaman/items/show/204
Source 4 Document Based Questions
Source 4 Document Based Questions
What pictures do you see in the political cartoon? What words do you see?
What do you notice about the two people?
What do you think the cartoonist believes about the relationship between civil rights activists and organized labor (unions)?
What do you think is the author's perspective of the sanitation strike?
Based on what you have learned, do you agree with the perspective of the cartoonist? Why or why not?
An Impact Beyond Memphis
An Impact Beyond Memphis
The City: Echoes of Memphis. (1969, April 25). Time Magazine, 93(17), 23. https://time.com/vault/issue/1969-04-25/page/25/
Access digital article: https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,840059,00.html
Excerpt from article "Echoes of Memphis":
"Charleston's generally docile Negroes and unpugnacious labor unions have blended well into the Old South texture. But this spring the blacks and the unions have both begun to change, and with them, Charleston.
Disturbing the stagnant peace are more than 350 black hospital employees, most of them women, most of them of limited education and skill, who work as nurse's aides, practical nurses, orderlies, kitchen help, janitors and maids. The majority earn between $1.30 and $1.60 an hour. They are striking two hospitals, making the issues not wages and working conditions, but simply union recognition and the right to collective bargaining."
Source 5 Document Based Questions
Source 5 Document Based Questions
What stands out to you in this article?
How are the events in Charleston similar to those in Memphis?
How do you think the Memphis strikers may have influenced the Charleston strikers?
What does this article tell you about the national impact of the Memphis sanitation strike?
Summative Activity
Summative Activity
Create a Political Cartoon
Create your own political cartoon to illustrate a perspective that you have about the sanitation strike.
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