Charleston Cigar Factory National Historic Landmark Nomination
Donaldson R. 2024. Charleston Cigar Factory National Historic Landmark Nomination. National Historic Landmark Nominations. National Park Service. Washington, DC
This document is the National Historic Landmark (NHL) nomination for the Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina. The NHL nomination for the Charleston Cigar Factory documents its national significance under NHL Criterion 1 for its association with a strike led by African American women during the winter of 1945-46. This strike was highly illustrative of the post-World War II national strike wave and was a critical precursor to Operation Dixie, a large-scale campaign that the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) initiated in 1946 to organize Black and White workers in the South. Workers who participated in the strike regularly sang the song “We Will Overcome,” which was subsequently adapted into the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” The period of national significance is October 1956 to March 1946.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Donaldson, Rachel
- Date of Issue
- 2024-09-02
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Keywords
- African American, Black, Charleston, industry, labor, National Historic Landmark, Operation Dixie, South Carolina, strike, women