Labor was dominant in post-war Alabama

Labor Day reminds me how labor union laden Alabama was during the immediate post World War II era in our state’s industrial development.

Alabama experienced the wrenching throes of the Great Depression like the rest of the nation. There were tragic stories of devastation that paralleled those illuminated in the classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath. On the other hand, I have heard many old timers who lived during the Depression say we never knew there was a depression in Alabama. We were poor before, so there was no marked difference to our standard of living. We had plenty to eat. There were people jumping out of buildings in New York City committing suicide because they were millionaires one day and penniless the next. We didn’t have much of that in Alabama.