The Men March, The Guards Watch

By the evening of March 28th, martial law had been declared and 4,000 soldiers of the Tennessee National Guard patrolled the streets. Undaunted, the sanitation workers marched the following day, but this time, they were shadowed by soldiers with bayonets and tanks. "It really was the classic confrontation between striking workers with nothing more then picket signs and the might of the armed forces of this city," stated Bill Lucy.

National Guard

Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb called in the National Guard during AFSCME Local 1733's sanitation workers' strike. (Date: 1968-03-28)

National Guard and Sanitation Strikers

AFSCME Local 1733 sanitation workers strike in Memphis with National Guard members looking on, 1968. (Date: 1968)