Henry O. Mayfield

Henry O. Mayfield (February 15, 1907 – December 31, 1963) and became a member of the United Mine Workers, one of the labor unions of the time. Due to joining the union, he became an active organizer of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the late 1930s. Working conditions led to a list of demands as part of a strike that included higher pay and changes in working hours. Mayfield was a singer in the East Birmingham Stars quartet. He had two children in his first marriage. After he and his wife separated, her family "cut him up," so he fled to Greenwood to live with his mother. Following his work with the CIO and the SNYC, Mayfield transitioned to working as the chairman of the board for Freedomways Associates, a political and cultural journal written for African-American audiences. during the arrest, those working for the drive found Communist literature at his house. He became an active member of the party and, during the spring of 1932, was selected to be part of the Southern Section Committee; he also became a District 17 bureau member. He also used his ties in the CIO to ask members to join initiatives he was heading at the Party, such as those for anti-poll tax campaigns, registering to vote; reading New South and Daily Worker, two Communist newspapers; and attending nonunion political functions headed by the Party. Ebb Cox worked with Mayfield in the fight for labor rights. The SNYC's first convention was located in Richmond, Virginia, and Mayfield acted as one of the founders in this convention, along with over 500 delegates from 23 states; 2,000 people observed the founding of the SNYC.

SNYC march on the Jefferson County Courthouse After his recent service in World War 2, Mayfield became increasingly emboldened and helped organize a march on the Jefferson County Courthouse, with the help of the SNYC. In Birmingham, black workers, led by Mayfield and other black organizers, were the first to come together to petition for changes in working conditions; white workers only joined the movement after finding out that Black workers would win in the Labor Board elections. Mayfield believed that “The Negro workers trained the white workers in the struggle.”

According to Mayfield, both the women and the children of the Black family played a role in union creation; when the men were on strike, the women could gather food for other families, while children could join protests with their fathers. This familial dynamic created a model that could unionize the foundries of Birmingham.

However, after their organizing and unionization in the foundries had succeeded, the Black organizers were forced out of their leadership roles by white workers, and support for their equality in the workplace was lost. Due to this, Mayfield stated that “Only small gains have been made, but only because the Negro fought for them.”