"Like Fire in Broom Straw" Recent Titles in Contributions in American History The Frontier in the Colonial South: South Carolina Backcountry, 1736-1800 George Lloyd Johnson, Jr. Keepers of the Spirits: The Judicial Response to Prohibition Enforcement in Florida, 1885-1935 John J. Guthrie, Jr. Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Documentary History Timothy Walch and Dwight M. Miller, editors Frontier Profit and Loss: The British Army and the Fur Traders, 1760-1764 Walter S. Dunn, Jr. Socialism and Christianity in Early 20th Century America Jacob H. Dorn, editor The Final Frontiers, 1880-1930: Settling the Southern Bottomlands John Solomon Otto African America and Haiti: Emigration and Black Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century Chris Dixon A Chief Justice's Progress: John Marshall from Revolutionary Virginia to the Supreme Court David Robarge Keeping the Faith: Race, Politics, and Social Development in Jacksonville, Florida, 1940-1970 Abel A. Bartley Members of the Regiment: Army Officers' Wives on the Western Frontier, 1865-1890 Michele J. Nacy An Independent Woman: The Life of Lou Henry Hoover Anne Beiser Allen The American Dole: Unemployment Relief and the Welfare State in the Great Depression Jeff Singleton "Like Fire in Broom Straw" Southern Journalism and the Textile Strikes of 1929-1931 Robert Weldon Whalen Contributions in American History, Number 191 Jon L. Wakelyn, Series Editor GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Whalen, Robert Weldon, 1950- "Like fire in broom straw": Southern journalism and the textile strikes of 1929-1931 / by Robert Weldon Whalen. p. cm.—(Contributions in American history, ISSN 0084-9219 ; no. 191) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-313-31698-8 (alk. paper) 1. Journalism—Southern States—History—20th century. 2. American newspapers—Southern States. 3. Strikes and lockouts—Textile industry—Southern States—Press coverage. I. Title. II. Series. PN4893.W48 2001 070.4'49331892877,0092275—dc21 00-052131 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2001 by Robert Weldon Whalen All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-052131 ISBN: 0-313-31698-8 ISSN: 0084-9219 First published in 2001 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 987654321 Copyright Acknowledgments The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission to reprint from the following: Excerpts from the following are reprinted with permission of Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina: Boyd Ellsworth Pay ton Papers George Sinclair Mitchell Papers J. Louis Engdahl, Gastonia—A Class Case and a Class Verdict. International Labor Defense flyer, undated. "Stand Behind the 23 Militant Gastonia Textile Workers'" San Francisco Joint Defense and Relief Committee flyer, undated. "Marion—Food and Clothing for 175 Families Neededr Federal Council of Churches flyer, undated. Excerpts from the following pamphlets are reprinted with permission of Special Collections De­ partment, Southern Labor Archives, Georgia State University: Paul Blanshard, Labor in Southern Cotton Mills. Conference for Progressive Labor Action, The Marion Murder. Sinclair Lewis, Cheap and Contented Labor. Jesse Lloyd, Gastonia. Myra Page, Southern Cotton Mills and Labor. Excerpts from the following papers are reprinted with permission of the Southern Historical Collec­ tion, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Robert Cooke Papers Frank Porter Graham Papers Harriet Herring Papers William Greene Raoul Papers Excerpts from Gaston County Centennial Brochure (1846-1946). Gaston County Centennial Committee, undated. Reprinted with permission of Gaston County Public Library, Gastonia, North Carolina. Excerpts from the following are reprinted with permission of McDowell County Library, Marion, North Carolina: Debra Burleson, "The Strike of 1929 in McDowell County." Unpublished paper. Cross Mill Records Robin H. Hill Collection Excerpts from the following are reprinted with permission of the Danville Public Library, Danville, Virginia: Clippings, indexed by Clara G. Fountain Dan River Mills File Schoolfield File Winding Through Time, Danville Bicentennial Committee Brochure, 1993. Excerpts from the Governor O. Max Gardner Papers and the Gertrude Weil Papers are reprinted with permission of the North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but in some instances this has proven impossible. The author and publisher will be glad to receive infor­ mation leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent printings of the book, and in the meantime extend their apologies for any omissions. This page intentionally left blank For my lather, Weldon Smith Whalen, and in loving memory of my mother, Genevieve Casey Whalen This page intentionally left blank 'Undeniably, there is a stir, a rustling upon the land, a vague, formless intangible thing which may or may not be the adumbration of coming upheaval. Tomorrow — the day after — eventually—the cotton mill peon will acquire the labor outlook and explosion will follow." — W. J. Cadi, "The Mind of the South" (1929) "The fects we see depend on where we are placed and the habits of our eyes." — Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1922) This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments xiii Abbreviations XV Introduction: "Like Fire in Broom Straw" 1 1. Eruption and Astonishment 13 2. Hysteria and the Restoration of Order 27 3. Metaphors of Struggle 41 4. Portraits of Workers 53 5. Girls Everywhere 67 6. The Inescapable Question of Race 81 7. What Is To Be Done? 93 Conclusion: "Journalism Below the Potomac" 105 Bibliography 111 Index 119 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This book was born of a complaint, a rejection, and lots of encouragement, and I am thankful for all three. The complaint was mine. Trained as a German historian, I complained, several years ago, to my friend and colleague, Dr. Richard Rankin, about the difficulties of doing German history from the United States. Richard, a fine southern historian, suggested that I try my hand at American history. I have long been interested in American and southern history, and I thought I'd see where Richard's suggestions led. They led to the industrial explosion of the early depression years, a powerful story that has only been partially told. I gathered vast amounts of compelling material, produced a vast, unwieldy, 900-plus page manuscript, and sent it off to a fine academic press. On the recommendation of an anonymous reviewer the press quite properly rejected the manuscript. But the reviewer did note that somewhere in that mountainous text there might be a good story about the southern press and its handling of the industrial turmoil, and that such a story might well be worth writing. That seemed like a remarkably good idea, and this book is the result. And so I'd like to thank both Richard Rankin and that anonymous reviewer for their suggestions. Meanwhile, along the way, several dozen other people have encouraged me as I pursued this story, and I need to thank them as well. Generous financial support for this research came in part from the Sam H. and Carolyn G. McMahon Jr. Professorship. Dozens of librarians and archivists have helped, and I would like to thank them all, especially Rosemary Arneson, Lawrence Turner, and their colleagues at Everett Library at Queens College. Let me thank too my colleagues in the history department at Queens College, William Thompson, Mollie Davis, Norris Preyer, Charles Reed, and Henry Kamerling, for years of good counsel. xiv Acknowledgments The staff at Greenwood Press deserve a great deal of thanks, especially Heather Staines, and Marcia Goldstein. I owe particular thanks to Bobbie Goettler, my editor, for astonishing attention to detail and great patience with tardy authors. Without Bobbie's painstaking work, this little book would most likely never have been born. Thanks too to Professor Jon Wakelyn of Kent State University, the editor of this series. My chiefest debt, however, is to Meg Freeman Whalen, pianist, musicologist, historian, and my best friend and soulmate, who took so much time from her own work to give to me. Thanks as well to our three children, James, Julia, and Cecilia; to Meg's surprise and mine, this book was completed before our children's retirement. I've dedicated this book to my dad and to the memory of my mom. I hope it can be, in a very small way, public testimony to my thanks and love. Abbreviations AFL American Federation of Labor CN Charlotte News CO Charlotte Observer DR Danville Register DW Daily Worker ES Elizabethton Star GDG Gastonia Daily Gazette GDN Greensboro Daily News GR Greensboro Record GP Greensboro Patriot MT Mecklenburg Times MP Marion Progress NA National Archives NTWU National Textile Workers Union NYT New York Times RNO Raleigh News & Observer RNL Richmond News-Leader RT-D Richmond Times-Dispatch SHC-UNC-CH Southern Historical Collection University of North Carolina at Chapel