History
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This five-story commercial building was built in 1882 as a textile mill and was known in its early years as the Charleston Manufacturing Company and then Charleston Cotton Mills. Leased to the American Tobacco Company in 1903 and sold to it in 1912, the plant became popularly known as the Cigar Factory and produced cigars such as Cremo and Roi~Tan until it closed in 1973. By the end of World War II, the factory employed 1,400 workers, 900 of them black women. In October 1945, 1,200 workers walked out over discrimination and low wages, singing the gospel hymn “I’ll Overcome Someday.” Later revised as “We Shall Overcome,” it became the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. The strike ended in March 1946 with a settlement giving workers raises and promising better treatment.
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Charleston, South Carolina · United States
