Hyde Park in Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Joseph "Joe" C. Warren
Memphis Sanitation Strike Organizer
Inside his home here at 968 Meagher, Joe Warren, a city sanitation worker, hosted strategy meetings with fellow workers in 1968 to plan what would become a historic strike against the City of Memphis. The strike would protest the firing of 33 employees on charges of workplace violations. Warren and other strike planners became founding members of Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The Local number honored the 17 fired employees who were later rehired and the 33 originally terminated. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. supported the strike, declaring it exposed the need in Memphis and elsewhere for economic equality and social justice. He came to Memphis twice to march alongside the sanitation workers. His first visit was in March. He arrived again in early April in anticipation of another demonstration planned for April 8.
The strike was continuing on April 3 when King returned to Memphis. That night he delivered his stirring "I've Been to the Mountaintop” address at Mason Temple. At that time Warren and other sanitation workers were under a court order forbidding the upcoming march. As the order was being reversed in court on April 4, King was preparing for dinner and stepped from his room onto the balcony at the Lorraine Motel. There he was assassinated. On April 16 after several days of rioting in Memphis and other cities, union leaders and city officials reached an agreement. The strike ended. Since then the 1968 sanitation strike has been a landmark in the nation's history of economic justice and social equality. Warren's brave commitment to stand up with others and declare "I am a man" was the catalyst for improving working conditions for sanitation workers and for advancing civil rights in Memphis and beyond.
Erected 2018 by Memphis Light, Gas and Water and The Shelby County Historical Commission.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Labor Unions. A significant historical year for this entry is 1968.
Location. 35° 9.711′ N, 89° 58.348′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Hyde Park. Marker is at the intersection of Meagher Street and Dunkley Avenue, on the right when traveling north on Meagher Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 968 Meagher Street, Memphis TN 38108, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Memphis 13 / Springdale Elementary School (approx. ¼ mile away); Joseph Hanover (approx. one mile away); Southwestern Alumni World War II Memorial (approx. one mile away); William Neely Mallory (approx. 1.1 miles away); Fargason Fields (approx. 1.1 miles away); Tennessee Williams Play (approx. 1.2 miles away); Overton Park (approx. 1.2 miles away); Rock of Ages Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Memphis.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 28, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 241 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 28, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.