Labor Day started in 1882 as a parade in New York City. It became a federal holiday in 1894. Most of us know it as the last long weekend of summer.

But Memphis has its own Labor Day story. It is the most important labor story in American history, and it happened right here, on our streets, in 1968. It starts with two men and a garbage truck. It ends with a union, a raise, and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is what happened, in order.

In 1968, Memphis sanitation work was done by about 1,300 men, nearly all of them Black. They carried leaking tubs of garbage on their shoulders. They had no uniforms, no raincoats, no place to wash up. Most earned so little they qualified for food stamps.

The city also had a "rainy day" rule. When it rained, Black workers were sent home without pay. White supervisors stayed and got paid.

On Thursday, February 1, it was pouring. Echol Cole, 36, and Robert Walker, 30, had no raincoats, and segregation meant they could not shelter inside a house on the route. So they climbed into the back of their truck to stay dry. Near the corner of Colonial and Verne in East Memphis, the compactor malfunctioned and pulled both men inside. They were crushed to death.

Union organizer T.O. Jones had already asked the city to retire that truck. It was old and worn out. Neither man could afford the city's life insurance. Their families got one month's pay and $500 toward the funerals.

Eleven days later, on Monday, February 12, the men did not show up for work. More than 1,100 of 1,300 stayed home. Fewer than 40 garbage trucks rolled that day.

The demands were simple. Recognize the union, AFSCME Local 1733. Pay a living wage. Pay on rainy days. Fix the trucks. Let dues come out of paychecks so the union could survive.

Mayor Henry Loeb, sworn in six weeks earlier, called the strike illegal and refused to talk. By February 14, more than 10,000 tons of garbage sat on Memphis curbs. Loeb hired replacement workers and sent police to escort the trucks.

On February 23, the City Council refused to recognize the union. Strikers marched down Main Street. Police moved in with mace and sprayed the marchers.

That did not end the strike. It grew it. The next day, Black ministers across the city formed a coalition called COME, Community on the Move for Equality, led by Rev. James Lawson. The NAACP called a boycott of downtown stores. And on February 26, the daily marches began.

Every day, the men gathered at Clayborn Temple on Hernando Street and walked to City Hall. They carried signs printed in the church basement. The signs said four words:

I AM A MAN.

The strike was officially about wages and safety. But the sign said what it was really about. Sanitation worker Taylor Rogers, who later led the local for 20 years, put it plainly: the purpose of the strike was dignity.

Those four words became one of the most recognized images of the civil rights movement. They came from Memphis.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in the middle of planning the Poor People's Campaign. Lawson asked him to come. On March 18, King spoke to more than 15,000 people at Mason Temple. He called for a citywide march and promised to return to lead it.

A record snowstorm on March 22 cancelled the first attempt. King came back on March 28 and led the march from Clayborn Temple. It fell apart. Windows broke on Beale Street. Police answered with nightsticks, tear gas, and gunfire. A 16-year-old named Larry Payne was shot and killed by police. About 280 people were arrested. The state sent in 4,000 National Guardsmen and set a 7 p.m. curfew.

The next morning, about 300 sanitation workers and ministers marched again, silently, carrying the signs, past Guardsmen with fixed bayonets and armored vehicles. King left Memphis shaken, and promised to come back and do it right.

King returned on Wednesday, April 3. It was storming again. He almost did not go to the rally. But the crowd at Mason Temple was waiting, so he went.

That night he gave the last speech of his life. He told the crowd he had been to the mountaintop and seen the promised land, and that he might not get there with them. You have probably heard the ending. The whole speech is about Memphis, about the strike, and about why these men mattered. It is worth 45 minutes of your holiday.

👉 Read or listen to the full speech here.

The next evening, just after 6 p.m., King stepped onto the balcony outside Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel on Mulberry Street. He was shot and killed. He was 39.

He was in Memphis for the sanitation workers. That is the whole reason he was here.

Four days later, on April 8, Coretta Scott King led a silent march through downtown Memphis in her husband's place. Estimates of the crowd run from 20,000 to more than 40,000. Harry Belafonte, Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, and John Lewis walked with her.

President Johnson sent his undersecretary of labor, James Reynolds, to force a deal. Downtown business owners, tired of the boycott, leaned on the mayor.

On Tuesday, April 16, the City Council voted 12 to 1 to recognize the union. The deal included dues checkoff, a grievance process, a promise to end discrimination in promotions, and a raise: 10 cents an hour on May 1 and 5 more cents in September. The men voted to accept. T.O. Jones sat down on the stage and cried.

The strike lasted 65 days. The next morning, the men went back to work.

I AM A MAN Plaza — opened in 2018 next to Clayborn Temple. The names of the 1,300 strikers are carved into the wall. Free, open every day. 📍 Hernando St. at Pontotoc Ave., Downtown

Clayborn Temple — the church where the signs were printed and every march began. An arson fire gutted it on April 28, 2025. The owners are rebuilding it as a replica using salvaged stone, glass, and the original bell and organ, with a goal of opening at least part of it by the strike's 60th anniversary in 2028. 📍 294 Hernando St.

National Civil Rights Museum — built around the Lorraine Motel. Room 306 is preserved as it was. 📍 450 Mulberry St. · civilrightsmuseum.org

Mason Temple — where King gave the Mountaintop speech. Still an active church, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. 📍 930 Mason St.

The Cole and Walker marker — a Tennessee Historical Commission marker stands near the spot. 📍 Colonial Rd. near Verne Rd., Colonial Acres

👋 Have a family story or photo from this chapter of Memphis history? Reply to any 901 Today email. We would love to add it.

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