August, 1945, 1945

Reports on the situation at the Delmo homes arrived from organizer Bill Johnson and David Burgess; see also Burgess' monthly report (31). Mae Pearl Kelley kept Mitchell informed on what was happening at the Deerfield Packing Co. (3,10,20,27). During the last week of the month, a furious fight erupted when the STFU learned of Department of Agriculture plans to enact a wage ceiling for cotton picking in the South by holding state-wide referendums. The Department's Arkansas Wage Board held hearings on the wage ceiling at Osceola and Forrest City; the papers include minutes of the hearings compiled by Lewis Henderson, a friend of the union from Little Rock (29,30) and a scathing report on the Osceola session by David Burgess entitled "A Preview of American Fascism" (29)