The Burlington Dynamite Plot

Pamphlet, Burlington Dynamite Plot, written by Walt Pickard and illustrated by Bill Siegel, published by International Labor Defense, New York, N.Y., 1935

Pamphlet, Burlington Dynamite Plot, written by Walt Pickard and illustrated by Bill Siegel. This pamphlet was published and sold as a fundraiser by International Labor Defense, New York, N.Y., 1935. Paul Green Papers, #3693, Southern Historical Collection

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The Burlington Dynamite Plot

The so-called Burlington dynamite plot refers to the attempted bombing of two Burlington, N.C., textile mills and the legal battle and media circus that followed. The plot occurred in the midst of the nationwide 1934 general textile strike. Six workers were arrested and accused of plotting to dynamite the mills. A group of Chapel Hill liberals formed the League for Southern Labor, an organization to raise funds for the workers’ legal defense. The League included UNC professors J.O. and Loretto Bailey, UNC Press founding director William T. Couch, and playwright Paul Green. The involvement of faculty members in the defense was denounced by some critics as a misuse of their standing at the University and as inappropriate participation in controversial off-campus matters.

Article, "Dynamite in Burlington," by William T. Couch and James Osler Bailey, published in <em>The Nation</em> (vol. 140, no. 3642), 24 April 1935.

Article, “Dynamite in Burlington,” written in support of the accused workers by William T. Couch and J.O. Bailey, published in The Nation (vol. 140, no. 3642), 24 April 1935. William T. Couch Papers, #3825, Southern Historical Collection

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