--- title: Jessie Wilkerson on the 1929 Elizabethton Textile Strike description: The AWF Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Jessie Wilkerson of the University of Tennessee joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/General%20LABOR%20131%20Blue%20(1).png --- 1 min read Season 6, Episode 159 # Jessie Wilkerson on the 1929 Elizabethton Textile Strike [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) August 12, 2025 [Event History](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/event-history) [Labor Issues](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/labor-issues) [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [Health, Welfare, and Safety](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/health-welfare-and-safety) [Women's History](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/womens-history) [NLO](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/nlo) [Labor History](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/labor-history) [Blue Cross Blue Shield](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/blue-cross-blue-shield) ![GENERIC LABOR 131 SIDEBAR](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/GENERIC%20LABOR%20131%20SIDEBAR.png?width=400&height=400&name=GENERIC%20LABOR%20131%20SIDEBAR.png)   Guest Name: --- Jessie Wilkerson Guest Website: --- [https://www.utk.edu/](https://www.utk.edu/)  Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/UTKnoxville/) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/utknoxville) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/UniversityTennessee) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-of-tennessee/) Supportive Documents: --- Today’s edition of Labor 131, presented by the [National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association](https://www.bcbs.com/national-labor-office-unions), featured Jessie Wilkerson, Associate Professor at the [University of Tennessee](https://www.utk.edu/) in Knoxville, shared her insights on the [1929 Elizabethton textile strike](https://tnmuseum.org/Stories/posts/women-and-the-elizabethton-rayon-strike-of-1929), highlighting the role of young female workers and the harsh conditions they faced. Wilkerson discussed the strike's origins, its impact and its place in labor history.   The Elizabethton strike began in a rayon plant where workers, some as young as 12, endured toxic conditions for meager wages. Wilkerson described how Margaret Bowen, a 26-year-old inspection girl, sparked the strike by requesting raises for her unit. The strike quickly grew, with 5,000 workers walking out within weeks. Workers protested not just low wages but also poor living conditions, unequal pay between men and women and the town's complicity in providing cheap labor to the company.   The strike faced significant opposition, including the deployment of 800 National Guard troops armed with machine guns and tear gas. Despite the violence and 300 arrests in three days, Wilkerson noted the strikers' resilience and jubilance. She emphasized how the young women on strike often dressed in their best clothes and found joy in collective action, even as they faced brutal suppression.   While the strike did not result in immediate union recognition, Wilkerson stressed its broader impact. It inspired thousands to join the labor movement, especially in the South, where workers were presumed compliant. Wilkerson views this strike as part of a long, ongoing process of labor struggle, connecting it to later fights for workers' rights and current battles against anti-union policies.   For a deeper dive into this pivotal moment in labor history, listen to the full interview with Jessie Wilkerson.   --- America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues. America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... 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