Martyr of Loray Mill

Ella May and the 1929 Textile Workers' Strike in Gastonia, North Carolina

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 Loray Mill Strike, the largest communist-led strike on American soil. Her most famous ballad, “Mill Mother’s Lament,” reveals her motivation: “It is for our little children.”