General Textile Strike

It aimed to bring all textile workers in the country into one union instead of being separated into different unions by trade. The UTWA first appeared in South Carolina during a wave of labor unrest between 1898 and 1902.

Perhaps the greatest crisis of Blackwood’s administration occurred during the General Textile Strike of September 1934, when half of the state’s textile workforce went on strike to protest wage cuts and poor working conditions. Blackwood called out the National Guard and empowered “constables without compensation” to patrol mill villages. On September 6 several “constables” fired on striking workers at Honea Path, killing seven and wounding fourteen.

As the town entered the twenty-first century, the Chiquola Mill continued as Honea Path’s largest employer. However, the town had diversified its economy somewhat.