A group of black women in Winston-Salem takes a stand to demand better wages and safer working conditions. The movement they start grows into a short-lived, but effective, labor union.
1940s series
The 1940s: A Mighty Storm
A late summer hurricane slams the Outer Banks, leaving a path of destruction like nothing North Carolina’s coast has ever seen before.
The 1940s: The Miracle of Hickory
When polio strikes children in the Piedmont, doctors, nurses, and volunteers rise to the occasion to build an emergency quarantine hospital.
The 1940s: Field of Dreams
At a rural crossroads in Halifax County, black farmers chart a new destiny for their families through the Tillery resettlement program.
The 1940s: The Deluge of 1940
Mountain communities bear the brunt of the decade’s most deadly Atlantic storm — forever changing our western landscape.
The 1940s: The Liberty Armada
When America went to war in 1941, the Navy turned to Wilmington to provide ships. The city’s response helped secure victory for the Allies and left a lasting mark on the North Carolina coast.