Rocky Mount in Edgecombe County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

1978 Rocky Mount Sanitation Workers Strike

Photographed by Dave W, June 25, 2023

1. 1978 Rocky Mount Sanitation Workers Strike Marker

Inscription.

1978 Rocky Mount Sanitation Workers Strike. . Timeline of Events. . June 20: Alexander Evans picked up suit of clothes left near trash at 220 West View Park Drive. Residents complain to city and Evans returns clothes to supervisor next day. . July 5: Evans suspended by city and arrested by police and charged with larceny. . July 10: Sanitation workers do not start work until meeting with city manager. (1st walkout). . July 11: Sanitation workers do not start work until meeting with city manager. (2nd walkout) Workers call for charges on Evans to be dropped and an apology from city. . July 24: Charges against Evans not dropped by 4:30 p.m. as expected by workers. . July 25: Sanitation workers begin strike. (3rd walkout) . July 26: Mass meeting at North End Baptist Church. . July 27: Evans’ District Court date continued to August 3. . July 28: Workers and supporters picket sanitation department site. . July 30: March from Weeks Armstrong to Tom Stith Park. . July 31: City agrees to reinstate workers. . August 1: Workers return to work. Mass meeting at North End Baptist Church. . August 3: Evans’ District Court date continued to August 10. . August 10: District Court rules Evans guilty of larceny. Evans appeals to Superior Court. . August 11: Workers and supporters get permit to begin picket of city hall. . August 14: Sanitation workers strike in protest of District Court ruling. (4th walkout) . August 20: March from City Lake to Tom Stith Park. Over 1,000 attended. . August 21: CCA begin boycott of downtown Rocky Mount businesses. . August 23: Mass meeting at Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church. . August 27: Mass meeting at Ebenezer Baptist Church. . August 30: CCA Press Conference announces end of strike and boycott; outlines future goals: “This matter is not over; it has just begun.” . August 31: Workers return to work without retaliation. . September 3: Unification rally at Tom Stith Park. . September 25: Nash County Superior Court jury finds Evans not guilty., On November 25, 2019, the City Council of the City of Rocky Mount named the Field Operations Complex in honor of Alexander Evans., Synopsis. Alexander “Preacher” Evans was a City of Rocky Mount Sanitation Worker who became the center of a change movement that led to voting rights advancement in Edgecombe County and influenced the formation of the Black Workers For Justice. While on his sanitation route, Mr. Evans picked up a suit of clothes left near a trash can, intending to donate the items to the needy. The next day, after complaints from residents, Mr. Evans returned the clothes to his supervisor. He was subsequently suspended from work, arrested by police and charged with larceny. After 82 challenging days, in September 1978, Mr. Evans was found not guilty of the charges by a Nash County Superior Court jury. He returned to work and later was promoted to driver., In His Own Words. “Why can’t we get together and do these things together, you know? I appreciate guys like y’all coming by. You know,, you want to lay it out these, you know. I asked the question one time, ‘Why? Why do these people want to keep interviewing me?’ Then I thought about it and I said, ‘Could be helpful to somebody else. And yeah, I am talking about helping people.’ If somebody run into the crap I run into, by you all writing this stuff, they might be able to get something from that that will help them in the day and time. I can appreciate you doing it because I like the song that somebody wrote, I don’t known who wrote it, but it says, ‘If I can’t help somebody along the way, what good an I?’” - Alexander Evans, Outcomes. This strike launch the African American empowerment movement that led to voting rights advances in Edgecombe County and the voting rights suit Naomi Green, ct. al. v. City of Rocky Mount (1983). This strike influenced the formation of the Black Workers for Justice in 1981 with Alexander Evans as first chairperson, and led to the Rock Mount City Workers Association., Key Supporters. Workers were supported by Concerned Citizens Association led by Reverend Thomas Walker, local Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Naomi Green, local NAACP led by Reverend Elbert Lee, the N.C. Trade Union Educational League, African Liberation Support Committee and attorneys Quentin Sumner and Antonia Lawrence.

Timeline of Events
• June 20: Alexander Evans picked up suit of clothes left near trash at 220 West View Park Drive. Residents complain to city and Evans returns clothes to supervisor next day.
• July 5: Evans suspended by city and arrested by police and charged with larceny.
• July 10: Sanitation workers do not start work until meeting with city manager. (1st walkout).
• July 11: Sanitation workers do not start work until meeting with city manager. (2nd walkout) Workers call for charges on Evans to be dropped and an apology from city.
• July 24: Charges against Evans not dropped by 4:30 p.m. as expected by workers.
• July 25: Sanitation workers begin strike. (3rd walkout)
• July 26: Mass meeting at North End Baptist Church.
• July 27: Evans’ District Court date continued to August 3.
• July 28: Workers & supporters picket sanitation department site.
• July 30: March from Weeks Armstrong to Tom Stith Park.
• July 31: City agrees to reinstate workers.
• August 1: Workers return to work. Mass meeting at North End Baptist Church.
• August 3: Evans’ District Court date continued to August 10.
• August 10:

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District Court rules Evans guilty of larceny. Evans appeals to Superior Court.
• August 11: Workers & supporters get permit to begin picket of city hall.
• August 14: Sanitation workers strike in protest of District Court ruling. (4th walkout)
• August 20: March from City Lake to Tom Stith Park. Over 1,000 attended.
• August 21: CCA begin boycott of downtown Rocky Mount businesses.
• August 23: Mass meeting at Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church.
• August 27: Mass meeting at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
• August 30: CCA Press Conference announces end of strike & boycott; outlines future goals: “This matter is not over; it has just begun.”
• August 31: Workers return to work without retaliation.
• September 3: Unification rally at Tom Stith Park.
• September 25: Nash County Superior Court jury finds Evans not guilty.

On November 25, 2019, the City Council of the City of Rocky Mount named the Field Operations Complex in honor of Alexander Evans.

Synopsis
Alexander “Preacher” Evans was a City of Rocky Mount Sanitation Worker who became the center of a change movement that led to voting rights advancement in Edgecombe County and

Photographed by Dave W, June 25, 2023

2. 1978 Rocky Mount Sanitation Workers Strike Marker

influenced the formation of the Black Workers For Justice. While on his sanitation route, Mr. Evans picked up a suit of clothes left near a trash can, intending to donate the items to the needy. The next day, after complaints from residents, Mr. Evans returned the clothes to his supervisor. He was subsequently suspended from work, arrested by police and charged with larceny. After 82 challenging days, in September 1978, Mr. Evans was found not guilty of the charges by a Nash County Superior Court jury. He returned to work and later was promoted to driver.

In His Own Words
“Why can’t we get together and do these things together, you know? I appreciate guys like y’all coming by. You know,, you want to lay it out these, you know. I asked the question one time, ‘Why? Why do these people want to keep interviewing me?’ Then I thought about it and I said, ‘Could be helpful to somebody else. And yeah, I am talking about helping people.’ If somebody run into the crap I run into, by you all writing this stuff, they might be able to get something from that that will help them in the day and time. I can appreciate you doing it because I like

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the song that somebody wrote, I don’t known who wrote it, but it says, ‘If I can’t help somebody along the way, what good an I?’”
- Alexander Evans

Outcomes
This strike launch the African American empowerment movement that led to voting rights advances in Edgecombe County and the voting rights suit Naomi Green, ct. al. v. City of Rocky Mount (1983). This strike influenced the formation of the Black Workers for Justice in 1981 with Alexander Evans as first chairperson, and led to the Rock Mount City Workers Association.

Key Supporters
Workers were supported by Concerned Citizens Association led by Reverend Thomas Walker, local Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Naomi Green, local NAACP led by Reverend Elbert Lee, the N.C. Trade Union Educational League, African Liberation Support Committee and attorneys Quentin Sumner and Antonia Lawrence.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Labor Unions. A significant historical date for this entry is June 20, 1978.

Location. 35° 57.186′ N, 77° 47.263′ W. Marker is in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in Edgecombe County. It is at the intersection of Spruce Street and Atlantic Avenue (North Carolina Route 97), on the left when traveling east on Spruce Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 313 Spruce St, Rocky Mount NC 27801, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Sanitation Workers' Strike (a few steps from this marker); Martin Luther King Jr. (within shouting distance of this marker); Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park (approx. 0.4 miles away); Lincoln Park Historic District (approx. 0.6 miles away); a different marker also named Jim Thorpe (approx. 0.6 miles away); Adolphus Staton (approx. 0.6 miles away); Veterans Memorial At Jack Laughery Park (approx. 0.6 miles away); Harold Bascom Durham, Jr. (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rocky Mount.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Jim Thorpe (was approx. 0.6 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Also see . . . Documentary mentioned. The QR code no longer works, but this should be this the video referenced.

YouTube direct link for documentary about the strike.

(Submitted on June 26, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado.)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 27, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 26, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado. This page has been viewed 324 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 26, 2023, by Dave W of Co, Colorado. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.