Cover; Table of Contents; Introduction; Prologue: The Legend; 1. The Beginning; 2. The Mills; 3. A Primed Situation; 4. The 1929 Strike; 5. The Music; 6. The Shooting; 7. Aftermath; Appendix: The Ballads; Chapter Notes; Bibliography; Index
Summary
Union organizer and balladeer Ella May became a martyr for workers nationwide when she was murdered on her way to a union meeting in Gastonia, North Carolina, at age 28. A mother of nine and bookkeeper for the communist-led National Textile Workers Union, May worked to organize fellow mill workers in Gaston County. Her efforts to organize black workers--along with her brash, outspoken manner--incensed the local community and she was shot by an anti-union vigilante group on September 14, 1929. Written by her great-granddaughter, this book tells Ella May's story, including her involvement in the
