Day 9: Remembering Local History during Black History Month. In the 1940s and 1950s, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was one of the largest employers in Winston-Salem. After a worker died on the job at Factory 64, a group of workers, primarily African American women, organized a strike in 1943 that spread throughout most of the R.J. Reynolds factories and resulted in the creation of the Local 22 of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America-CIO (F.T.A.) uni…on. A second strike occurred in 1947 when the R.J. Reynolds administration refused to create a 65-cent minimum wage for stemmers, who were mostly African American women. In the end, an agreement was reached that would grant a 60-cent minimum wage to workers in Factory 64. A historical marker can be found on N. Research Parkway between E. Fourth and E. Fifth Streets. Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library, Winston-Salem, NC, NC Photograph Collection, Winston-Salem, N. C. The Depot Street Renaissance mural by Leo Rucker represents the contributions of just a few of the many individuals, businesses and institutions that made the neighborhood that is now the Innovation Quarter a prestigious community and a thriving hub of Black enterprise. Visit the mural on 7th Street between Research Pkwy and Vine St: https://bit.ly/3GtjlSl #blackhistorymonth #blackhistorymonth2022 #BHM2022 #blackhistoryisamericanhistory #bhm #blacklivesmatter #blm #blackhistory #history