Among The Smoldering Ruins: The Historic Vance Avenue Library. What was arguably the most disturbing event of the strike was the burning and destruction of the historic Vance Avenue Library. Known as the “Negro Public Library,” a city pamphlet said of the library at 531 Vance Avenue, just west of South Lauderdale Street: “The Vance Avenue Library, opened in the summer of 1939, serves the purpose of a central library for colored people in the same manner as Cossitt Library at Front and Monroe serves the white people. From this main library on Vance, it is hoped to extend a network of libraries for negroes.” The library served the neighborhoods in and around South Memphis exclusively to the African American population until the public library system began integrating after 1958. Newspaper clipping with photos of the exterior of the library and the interior with tables of Black children reading books.

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Shannon Skinner (she/her) (shansterable@c.im)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Feb-2025 07:12:38 JST

In the summer of 1978, there was anarchy in Memphis when both the police and fire departments went on strike at the same time. This terrifying situation of rampant arson and looting happened while I was a young adult living in Memphis and learning about the world.

People unified to fill the gap. Neighborhood organizations advised residents to appoint street captains, trade phone numbers, and keep watch over each others' properties.

This bit of history offers us valuable lessons that become more relevant each day.

"July 1, 1978, the Memphis Fire Department Strike left over 200 structures in ruins.

The strike and the actions of some individuals in both the police and fire departments present one of the more disturbing chapters in Memphis history, with racial overtones that echo to this day.

The primary issues centered on poor wages and working conditions, long work weeks, lack of compensation for injuries, frustrations dating back ten years, and according to many, a general mistrust of the city’s administration. On a pay stub he had sent back to Memphis Mayor Wyeth Chandler, one fireman wrote, “Me and my family can’t live on this (wage). You may have to get somebody else to put out your fires.”

With the support and encouragement from firefighter unions across the country, on July 1st, 1978, 1,400 fire fighters walked off their jobs. They would return to work on the 4th after obeying a court order and with a promise there’d be strike mediation. But there were a few more walkouts and picketing, and then a month later, on August 15th officers of the police force walked out, and the firefighter’s union joined them.''

#USPol #USPolitics #Memphis #MemphisHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #UnionsStrong #GeneralStrike #Resist

This article does a great job in summarizing the terror, politics, and culture surrounding these events using images from newspapers and photos from the time:

https://storyboardmemphis.org/history/the-infamous-1978-fire-and-police-department-strikes/