May, 1936, 1936

The strike, which began May 18, dominates the union correspondence for this month. See especially the frequent STFU press releases on the strike, the circular letter sent out to AF of L affiliates appealing for strike funds (21), and Mitchell's almost daily communications with Gardner Jackson. Toward the end of May, a major issue developed in the case of Paul Peacher, a Crittenden County (Ark.) Deputy Sheriff accused of holding sharecroppers in peonage on his penal farm; see especially the union press release, "Concentration Camps in Arkansas" (21).