"WASHERWOMAN'S STRIKE, 1881"

 “WASHERWOMAN’S STRIKE, 1881”

 

            As we approach Labor Day in an acrimonious time, I want to note a little-known labor action in Atlanta in the early union days of 1881.  I’ll be using a condensed version of an article that I wrote for Hospitality – the longer version is found at  http://opendoorcommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/July-2020-web.pdf.  After the Civil War ended, many rural Black women in the South, previously held as slaves, moved to the urban areas to seek employment and to seek to get away from the neo-slavery that was rapidly redeveloping.

 

Many of these newly arrived black women took in laundry as a way to make money.  Known as “laundresses” or “washerwomen,” more black women did this kind of work in 1881 in the South than in any other occupation.  It was back-breaking work, with long hours and very low pay.  Picking up dirty clothes at white peoples’ homes on Monday, making their own soap from lye, hauling water from wells or pumps to washtubs made from old beer barrels, scrubbing the clothes on washboards, wringing out the clothes, then hanging or draping them to dry, then ironing the clothes with hot, heavy irons, then delivering the clothes on Saturday -  all for the pay of $4-8 a month.  Still, the women were glad that their “domestic” work enabled them to stay home, rather than have to move to the white peoples’ homes as “almost slaves.” As Sarah Hill put it: “I could clean my hearth good and nice and set my irons in front of the fire and iron all day without stopping…I cooked and ironed at the same time.”  They made a way out of no way. 

 

Making a way out of no way did not mean, however, that they were content with it.  In 1881, some 20 of these washerwomen began to meet and to organize to seek better wages.  They also went door to door in their neighborhoods, seeking other washerwomen to support the effort and join in the strike.  Their efforts built on the efforts of others, but it was still early in the labor union movement.  The first labor union in the state of Mississippi was a washerwoman’s union in 1866 in Jackson.  The Knights of Labor was formed in 1869, but the American Federation of Labor was not formed until 1886, so these washerwomen were in the forefront of this developing movement to support workers in their demands for better wages and working conditions.

 

The washerwomen of Atlanta named themselves “The Washing Society,” and we have the names of six of them:   Matilda Crawford, Sallie Bell, Carrie Jones, Dora Jones, Orphelia Turner, and Sarah Collier.   They began to organize, and soon their numbers had grown from 20 to 3,000.  They went on strike in late July, 1881, letting their white employers know that unless their wages were raised, no more laundry would be done.  It caused a furor in the white community.  The Atlanta Constitution (AJC) covered the strike almost daily, and its coverage – which is the only written records that we have of the strike – was filled with both contempt and amazement at the temerity of these black washerwomen.  The AC called them the “Washing Amazons,” and in using what it deemed a derisive term, it revealed the fear which these women struck in the heart of privileged, white society.  The idea of “Amazons” originated in ancient Greece and referred to a fierce band of women warriors – indeed “Diana” of the recent movie “Wonder Woman” was living among and trained by Amazons. 

 

The AJC had these words about the Washing Society:  “The laundry ladies’ efforts to control the prices for washing are still prevalent and no small amount of talk is occasioned hereby.  The women have a thoroughly organized association and additions to the membership are being made each day……The washerwomen of Atlanta having ‘struck’ for very unreasonably high prices.”   Even more ominous for white society was that talk began among other domestic workers about going on strike.  As the Washing Society strike held out, the City Council went into action to end the strike.  Strikers were arrested for disorderly conduct ; white businessmen proposed building an expensive steam laundry to end the black women’s “monopoly,” and the Council levied an exorbitant tax of $25 on each Washing Society member.  In response to the tax, the Washing Society met at Wheat Street Baptist Church and voted to send this letter to the Mayor – they are the only words that we have from the Washing Society:

 

“We the members of our society, are determined to stand to our pledge and make extra charges for washing, and we have agreed, and are willing to pay $25 or $50 for licenses as a protection, so that we can control the washing for the city.  We can afford to pay these licenses, and will do it before we will be defeated, and then we will have full control of the city’s washing at our own prices, as the city has control of our husbands’ work at their prices.  Don’t forget this. We hope to hear from your council meeting Tuesday morning.  We mean business this week or no washing.”

 

            The city council voted to rescind its action, and the strike proceeded.  Yet, we do not know the resolution of the strike.  The articles in the Constitution eventually faded out, and since we have no other sources, the conclusion of historians is that the Washing Society only got a few of its demands.

 

But, as we approach Labor Day,  it reminds us that the struggle for justice and equity is long and difficult, but so essential.  The economic forces that shaped racism and slavery are deep and powerful, and the only way to bend the arc of history towards justice is to engage in the struggle for such bending.  We are now in a crucial period.  Significant changes will be made in these times.  Let us be inspired by the Washing Society, and let us take up their dirty but cleansing work in order to bend these times toward justice.

 

'CELEBRATE THE PASSAGE, FIGHT FOR THE PROMISE"

 Since she is Tennessee born and bred,  today’s blog is written by my partner and co-pastor, the Rev. Caroline Leach, who was the 21^st woman ordained to the ministry in the former Presbyterian Church US.

 

“CELEBRATE THE PASSAGE, FIGHT FOR THE PROMISE”

 

            On August 17, 1920, Seth Walker, the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, left his position and went down to the floor to speak in favor of tabling the motion to ratify the 19^th Amendment, which would give women the right to vote.  Tennessee was one of the last chances for the Amendment to be ratified – if it did so, it would be the 36^th state to do so, and it would push the amendment over the line for ratification to amend the Constitution.  If it failed to do so, the Amendment was likely dead. 

 

The vote on passage in Tennessee would be exceedingly close, and thus the Speaker took the unusual step of going to the floor to speak on defeating it.  In his speech Walker got to the heart of the matter.  He was against giving the right to vote to women, and his reasoning boiled down to one fundamental reason:  “This is a white man’s country.”  He spoke this to a legislature full of white men, called into special session by Gov. A. H. Roberts in sweltering August heat in Nashville.  They came into Nashville – all white, all male – ready to put women into their place once and for all.  Most would have preferred to have been sitting on the porch with a cool drink or swimming in a creek or lake that dot the hills and hollers and flatlands, but here they were. 

 

So, the women of Tennessee had ridden the trains, hired drivers (because they weren’t allowed to drive), and walked dusty roads and trails to talk with each of Tennessee’s legislators, seeking to get a signature for a “yes” vote.  There were plenty of women and men opposed to the 19^th Amendment, and there was heavy opposition funding from the railroads and the liquor lobby.  There is a great book about Tennessee’s journey on this, called “The Woman’s Hour”, by Elaine Weiss – it will take your breath away.

 

After he made his “white man” speech, Speaker Walker received a dismaying surprise later that day when Banks Turner changed his mind and voted against tabling the motion, thus freeing it for an “up or down” vote the next day.   And, that day brought another surprise.  Although he had voted to table the motion the previous day, Harry Burn - the youngest member of the legislature – had received a letter that night from his widowed mother Phoebe “Febb” Burn, urging him to vote for the 19^th Amendment.  He had been vacillating over what action to take all during the session, but his momma’s words convinced him.  He voted “aye” on the 19^th Amendment, shocking everyone, and a tumult followed on the floor of the Tennessee House.   The 19^th Amendment, certifying the right to vote for women, would now become the law of the land.

 

The final vote was 49-48 – ONE VOTE determined the fate of voting for women – ONE VOTE!  Having broken through this wall only led to confronting more walls – despite the 15^th Amendment, many Black men and women were denied the right to vote.  Native Americans, Asian-Americans, LatinX Americans had to claw and scrape their way to the vote, finally achieved in the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Or, so we thought – that act was eviscerated by the Supreme Court in 2013, so we are back, way back, in the parade. 

 

The fight for voting rights for everyone continues today.  We see it now in the voter suppression for 2020, so make a plan to vote and to get others registered and voting.  Following the 19^th Amendment, we have heard so often that “woman’s place is in the home,” but we have added “and in the House!”  It was clear then, and it is clear now that there were (and are) many roadblocks to voting.  When the 19^th Amendment passed in 1920, there were 10 weeks left until the presidential election of that year – about the same amount for us 100 years later.  The roadblocks remain – let us be like those dedicated women in Tennessee and hit the streets to make certain that the community votes.  It is as crucial as that vote on the hot August day in Tennessee in 1920.  Let us celebrate the passage of the 19^th Amendment, and let us now fight for its promise. 

 

"WE INTEND TO GETE THE VOTE...."

 “WE INTEND TO GET THE VOTE….”

 

            This week marks the 100^th anniversary of the ratification  of the 19^th Amendment which gave women the right to vote.  On August 18, 1920, the state of Tennessee became the 36^th state to ratify the 19^th Amendment, passing it by ONE vote.  I’ll have more on that process next week, when we celebrate the certification of the 19^th Amendment on August 26, 1920, by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.  It had been a long, hard journey to that point, and still Black women were denied the vote in the South until 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

 

            As I wrote last week, the Seneca Falls Convention in New York in 1848 is seen as the beginning of organized efforts to gain the right to vote for women in the USA.  Some colonies had allowed women to vote (Massachusetts and New Jersey), but by 1807, all states denied the right of women to vote.  The work to obtain the right to vote was long and arduous.  A bill to allow women to vote was introduced in the Senate in 1866 but was defeated.  In 1869 Wyoming voted to give women the right to vote, as did several other Western states.  In 1872 Susan B. Anthony was allowed to register to vote in the Presidential election, and she was later arrested and convicted for voting in that election.  In 1875 the US Supreme Court ruled in Minor v. Happersett that the US Constitution did not guarantee women (or anyone) the right to vote, despite the 15^th Amendment stating otherwise.  In 1878 the “Susan B. Anthony” Amendment was introduced into the Congress for the first time but was defeated there.

 

            As we are seeing now with the emergence of new leaders in the fight for racial justice, it would take a new generation of leaders to push through the passage of the 19^th Amendment.  There were many, but Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Harriet Stanton Blatch stand out.  And, as we are seeing now in the renewed Black Lives matter movement, it took millions of people galvanizing and organizing to get the needed changes.  They believed that more political pressure on state and federal leaders was needed in order to get the vote for women.  Paul and Burns went to Britain to learn under the Pankhurst family and others who were working there to get the right for women to vote.  Black women like Ida Wells and Mary Church Terrell were also working on the right to vote for women.  All joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association, though there was great tension over whether the 19^th Amendment would include Black women – the white women were afraid of alienating Southern white women, and the Black women had heard that story so many times!

 

            Burns, Paul, and Stanton Blatch began to raise the pressure in the early 1900’s.  Stanton Blatch believed that a state-by-state approach was the best, feeling that the Congress would never pass the Amendment.  Paul and Burns believed that they could not conduct such a state-by-state approach well.   In order to work on a federal, constitutional amendment, Paul formed the National Women’s Party (NWP), specifically designed to develop an amendment to the Constitution.  In 1913 they joined forces with Carrie Chapman Catt to form the first political mass protest in Washington, DC.  They gathered their supporters to march on March 3, the day before Woodrow Wilson was to be inaugurated as President.  There were tensions and struggles over whether to allow Black women to march in their state groups, or whether the Black women should be segregated to the back of the march.  Mary Church Terrell agreed to go to the back – Ida Wells did not.  They had many thousands of participants, and at one point, the march was broken up by white males.  The US Calvary was called in to restore order, and they finished the march.

 

            In January, 1917, Alice Paul and the NWP did another first – they began picketing the White House, demanding the right to vote for women.  Many of their allies felt that they were going too far, that it would alienate more people than persuade them.  What seems routine now was started by women seeking the vote.  Alice Paul and others pushed the envelope further – they managed to get arrested after the USA entered World War I in April, 1917.  Borrowing from tactics learned from the Pankhursts in Britain,  they began a hunger strike to force a vote on the amendment.  The authorities decided to force feed them instead of making martyrs for the movement.  Instead, it shocked the public, and the sympathy meter began to move.  All the while, Harriet Stanton Blatch and many others were working on the state levels. 

 

            On June 4, 1919 the Congress and the US Senate approved the 19^th Amendment and sent it to the states for ratification.  The Amendment passed the US Senate by ONE vote, after a filibuster by Southern Democrats.  The vote in the Senate was 56-25, with 37 Republicans voting for it and 19 Democrats.  This would be an amendment that would squeak by – one vote in the Senate, one vote in Tennessee.  The passage of this 19^th Amendment, which has made such a difference in our democracy, is testimony to the combined power of political organizing, direct action, strong witness, and endurance.  It wasn’t perfect, but it is part of those steps needed to seek fulfillment of the great American ideal:  we hold these truths to be self-evident- that all people are created equal.  Next week on to Tennessee.

 

"THE SEEDS OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT"

 “THE SEEDS OF THE 19^TH AMENDMENT….”

 

            In the spring of 2009, Caroline and I went to visit our daughter Susan, who was living in Westfield, NY, while she did a theatrical internship at an internationally known puppet theater known as Das Puppenspiel.  Westfield was located directly on Lake Erie, but it was best known as the home of Welch’s grape juice.  When we had first arrived there in the late summer of 2008, I saw acres and acres of green plants that looked from afar like they were the cotton plants with which I had grown up.  I knew that cotton wouldn’t make it in this geography, so as I was wondering what they were, it dawned on me – grape arbors, aligned almost exactly like the rows of cotton plants that I knew so well from the Mississippi River delta.

 

            On this spring trip of 2009  we went to Seneca Falls, where the first convention for women’s rights was held in the United States in July, 1848.  Housed in the Women’s Rights National Historical Park is a powerful history of the women’s rights movement, especially in the 1800’s.  Nearby was the hull of the original building where the convention was held in Wesleyan Methodist Chapel – three brick walls were left. 

 

On this coolish New York day, you could almost see and hear the voices of the debate over whether to adopt the “Declaration of Sentiments,” which had been drafted a few days earlier by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott  (who would later accompany Mary Brown to Harper’s Ferry in 1859 to pick up the body of Brown’s husband John, who had been executed by the federal government because of his raid on the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry).  Stanton and Mott first met in London, 1840, while they were attending the World Anti-Slavery Convention with their husbands.  That convention excluded women delegates, and  this denial helped strengthen their resolve to work for women’s rights and to hold a convention for that purpose.

 

            The gathering at Seneca Falls built on the pioneering work of many women who spoke and worked for equal rights for women:  Sojourner Truth, Angelina and  Sarah Grimke, Abby Kelley, Margaret Fuller, Victoria Woodhull, and others.   Its goal was to begin the work of developing legal and political rights for women in the United States and around the world.  It was a regional gathering and a white one – Frederick Douglass was the only African-American in attendance there.  Sojourner Truth was not there, Harriet Tubman was not there, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was not there.  This blindness and tension over the intersectionality of race and gender would plague and hurt the women’s rights movement for many decades. 

 

            This gathering at Seneca Falls is now seen as the official beginning of the women’s rights movement, a beginning that led to the passage of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution, whose 100^th anniversary will be celebrated later on this month.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will take a brief look at this history, noting the difficult fights, the internal struggles over the intersection of gender and race, the great successes, and the passage of the three steps in bringing voting rights to Black men in the 16^th Amendment, to white women in the 19^th Amendment, and then to Black women in the passage of Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Last week was the 55^th Anniversary of that Act, which ended neo-slavery in the country, but especially in the South. 

 

            The Seneca Falls Convention adapted a phrase from the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident – that all men and women are created equal.”  They passed 10 resolutions unanimously in support of women’s rights, and the one contentious one was a resolution that affirmed voting rights for women.  It barely passed, aided by a fiery speech in support of it by Frederick Douglass.   But, its controversy at Seneca Falls would point to the difficulty of its passage.  It would be 72 years before white women (and some Black women) secured the right to vote in the 19^th Amendment.  Only one attendee at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention was alive at the passage of the 19^th Amendment in 1920:  Charlotte Woodward Pierce.  

 

Its passage was a milestone, but for all the hard work that went into it, there was much work yet to be done.  It would be 45 more years before Black women were guaranteed the right to vote, and indeed that work continues.  In 2013, the US Supreme Court used the case of  Shelby (Alabama) v. Holder to strike down key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and we are still working to restore them.  If you think that voting is not much, just think of all the resistance that has been seen and continues to be seen – as John Lewis once put it, it is the only viable, non-violent weapon in a democracy.  We are seeing its importance in this year’s decisive November election.  In honor of Seneca Falls and all the women and men who have worked and fought and died for the vote, make sure that you are registered to vote for the November election – and commit to find 10 others who are not and to get them to register and to vote!

"JOHN LEWIS WAS NOT JESUS, BUT...."

“JOHN LEWIS WAS NOT JESUS, BUT…..”    

John Lewis was not Jesus, but…..

John Lewis was not Jesus

But it’s not hard to imagine

It seems true

John Lewis standing in the land of the dead,

John Lewis standing in the belly of the beast

In the heart of the Deep South (it is always with us)

Calling out those of us dead in racism,

Calling out to us

            What is your name?

Like the man in the tombs,

We call out:  Racism!

We call out:  White Supremacy!

It has become our name.

John Lewis was not Jesus, but….

We can imagine him

            Indeed

We experienced him

We heard him

Telling us that we had a different name,

Telling us we had a different definition:

            Child of God

That we could be clothed

In right understanding of ourselves and others

John Lewis was not Jesus, but……

The calling out, the healing was

            Costly

Bearing that cost in body and soul,

Beaten on the bus,

     Beaten on the bridge,

Arrested again and again.

People saw Jesus heal the man

They were afraid, not hopeful

They were afraid

Get outta here, they told Jesus

No healing allowed here – too much cost

John Lewis was not Jesus, but…..

He kept on calling, kept on marching, kept on loving,

The one who was healed wanted to leave,

Wanted to go with Jesus, wanted to get away

Jesus sent him back

Jesus sent him back

To the same people who feared him, who chained him,

Go back and tell people

John Lewis was not Jesus, but…..

He tells us to go back,

Go back to Mississippi,

Go back to Minneapolis,

Go back to Atlanta

Go back to Glynn County (and not to see Sidney Lanier)

Go back and tell

Go back and tell of a new vision,

Go back and call for justice

            Call for equity, call for love

Go back and tell what God has done for you

Go back and tell the truth.

John Lewis was not Jesus, but…..