About
The collection contains, primarily, the correspondence of Isaiah Bennett, President of the Charleston Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. Isaiah Bennett (1926-2002) served as a union representative for tobacco workers at the American Tobacco Company’s “Cigar Factory” and as a leader and negotiator of the Charleston Hospital Workers’ Strike of 1969. Bennett also founded and was president of the Charleston chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, an umbrella organization for black trade unions. Topics include Bennett’s campaign for Charleston County Council in 1980, primary and secondary source material on the Charleston Hospital Workers’ Strike of 1969 and includes correspondence between Bennett and other leaders of the strike, news releases regarding the national 1945 Tobacco Workers’ Strike, and correspondence, minutes, and bylaws of the Charleston Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.