The middle of the twentieth century was a time of explosive growth for American industry and a test of strength for the nation’s labor movement. For most of this period, the economy of Arkansas was directly tied to the cotton crop. Not until the defense industry boom of World War II, would industry begin to outpace agriculture.

While manufacturing fueled economic development in the industrial north, Arkansas’s large-scale industries tended to focus more on the extraction and export of key natural resources: timber, coal, oil, and bauxite. The concentration of these resources in rural areas created the ideal conditions for a system of corporate monopolies and the construction of company towns, some of which remain to this day.

By gathering a variety of materials from the collections of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Butler Center for Arkansas Studies on the Arkansas labor movement, this project aims to capture a formative moment in the struggle of Arkansas workers for dignity, security, and basic democratic rights.

Explore Labor and Industry in Arkansas