Labor

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The "Preamble" page from the "Constitution of the Grand Agricultural Wheel of the State of Arkansas."
Agricultural Wheel
The Agricultural Wheel was a state farmers’ union, founded in the Arkansas Delta, which expanded into ten ot...
Arkansas AFL-CIO
aka: Arkansas American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Arkansas American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industria...
"Will ask Bowers to act at once " newspaper clipping
Arkansas Farmers Union
aka: Arkansas Farmers Educational Cooperative Union
The Arkansas iteration of the Farmers Union—founded as the Farmer...
Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
The Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission is a quasi-judicial agency of the executive branch of Arkansas...
Group of African-American men standing and sitting before brick wall
Alfred Banks (1895?–1944)
Alfred (Alf) Banks was one of twelve African-American men accused of murder following the Elaine Massacre of 1...
Jerome Bill Becker (1924–1997)
Jerome Bill Becker served as president of the Arkansas American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial...
"Negroes leave town of Bonanza" newspaper clipping
Bonanza Race War of 1904
The Bonanza Race War of 1904 was a race riot/labor war that occurred in the coal-mining city of Bonanza (Sebas...
Bracero Program
To ensure that U.S. farmers had sufficient labor, the U.S. State Department and the Mexican Foreign Affairs De...
"The Coal Hill Convicts" newspaper clipping
Coal Hill Convict Lease Investigation (1888)
In the spring of 1888, the coal mining operations in Johnson County, worked by convict leased labor, were the ...
Group of African-American men standing and sitting before brick wall
Ed “Sweat” Coleman (1855–1928)
Ed Coleman was one of twelve African-American men accused of murder and sentenced to death following the Elain...
Mine buildings and train cars on tracks
Coronado Coal Co. v. United Mine Workers of America
aka: United Mine Workers of America v. Coronado Coal Co.
Coronado Coal Co. v. United Mine Workers of America refers here to ...
"Nine Negroes Lynched" newspaper clipping
Cotton Pickers Strike of 1891
The Cotton Pickers Strike of 1891 was an ill-conceived attempt by a group of African-American sharecroppers in...
Crossett Strike of 1940
The Crossett Strike of 1940 was a fifty-eight-day work stoppage in the lumber and manufacturing town of Crosse...
Decatur Strike of 1951
In 1950, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America began organizing workers at poultry...
Small dilapidated house with boarded up window
John Samuel (Sam) Faubus (1887–1966)
John Samuel (Sam) Faubus was a hardscrabble farmer whose struggles to make a living for his large family from ...
"Hello girls may strike" newspaper clipping
Fort Smith Telephone Operators Strike of 1917
On September 19, 1917, women who were employed as telephone operators by the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. i...
Group of African-American men standing and sitting before brick wall
Albert Giles (1898–1937)
Albert Giles was one of twelve African-American men accused of murder following the Elaine Massacre of 1919. A...
"The Situation at Texarkana" newspaper clipping
Great Southwestern Strike
At its height, the Great Southwestern Strike of 1886 shut down railway lines in five states (Arkansas, Illinoi...
Amis Robert Guthridge (1908–1977)
Amis Robert Guthridge was a Little Rock (Pulaski County) attorney and businessman best known for his role in o...
White man with glasses in suit with white collar
Thomas J. Hagerty (1862–?)
Thomas J. Hagerty was a Roman Catholic priest and social activist. He was originally involved in the Socialist...
Crowd gathered in the street among multistory buildings
Harrison Railroad Riot
aka: Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Strike
The Harrison Railroad Riot was an outbreak of anti-union violence i...
Photograph of white man in suit and tie in political advertisement
Willie Blount Wright (W. B. W.) Heartsill (1840–1913)
During the 1880s and 1890s, Willie Blount Wright Heartsill (whose first name was pronounced “Wylie” and wh...
Group of African-American men standing and sitting before brick wall
Ed Hicks (1873–?)
Ed Hicks was one of twelve African-American men accused of murder following the Elaine Massacre of 1919. After...
African-American man with glasses smiling in hat and button-up shirt
Robert Lee Hill (1892?–1963)
Robert Lee Hill was an African-American leader who was forced to flee Arkansas during the bloody Elaine Massac...
White woman singing and playing an accordion to a white crowd with car and buildings behind her
Zilphia Mae Johnson Horton (1910–1956)
Zilphia Mae Johnson Horton was an influential educator, folklorist, musician, and social justice activist who ...
Group of white men in suits with portrait of white man in suit
Knights of Labor
The largest American labor organization of its era, the Knights of Labor (KOL) recruited workers across bounda...
The "Preamble" page from the "Constitution of the Grand Agricultural Wheel of the State of Arkansas."
Labor Movement
Soon after Arkansas’s 1836 admission to the Union, wage workers in the state began uniting for their mutual ...
Angry white crowd surrounding young African-American girl sitting on bench with white woman talking to her
Grace Lonegran Lorch (1903–1974)
Grace Lorch, wife of Philander Smith College mathematics professor Lee Lorch, was a civil rights and labor rig...
Mechanics' Institute of Little Rock
In September 1858, a group of white workingmen in Little Rock (Pulaski County) formed one of the state’s fir...
Young white man in shirt and tie sitting in an office with his leg p on the chair and smoking a cigarette
Harry Leland Mitchell (1906–1989)
Harry Leland Mitchell was a lifelong union activist and co-founder of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union (ST...
Group of African-American men standing and sitting before brick wall
Frank Moore (1888–1932)
Frank Moore was one of twelve African-American men accused of murder and sentenced to death following the Elai...
"Sensation at Hardy" newspaper clipping
Winfield Scott Morgan (1851–1928)
Winfield Scott Morgan (better known as W. Scott Morgan) lived in Arkansas for most of his life. As a writer, e...