{"id":394,"featured":1,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:57:16","latitude":41.63344081485914927043268107809126377105712890625,"longitude":-70.927393734455108642578125,"title":"Standing Up for Worker's Rights","subtitle":"Eulalia Mendes","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/15c3729ec4eea86380a4a3b3fe029c10.jpg","address":"Corner of S 6th St. and Spring St. New Bedford, MA 02740","all_locations":[],"zoom":18,"creator":["Tom Begley with Ann O'Leary"],"description":"When 20,000 textile workers went on strike in the 1928 New Bedford Textile Workers Strike, 18-year-old factory worker Eulalia “Eula” Mendes (1910-2004) became a leader in her mill and community by encouraging Portuguese industrial migrant workers to participate in the strike. Later, she traveled nationwide to support other fights for justice and equality.
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\r\nEula left Portugal with her working-class family in 1912 and settled in New Bedford, a textile city with a large Portuguese-speaking community. At the young age of 14, Eula became her family’s primary breadwinner as a bobbin worker in a textile factory. In 1928, when the city’s textile workers went on strike in opposition to a 10% wage cut planned by the factory owners, Eula began attending meetings run by regional and national labor organizers.
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\r\nShe became a leader at her mill and in her community by promoting Portuguese worker participation in the strike. Eula translated the speeches of labor leaders into Portuguese and gave speeches herself. She became an organizer for the communist-influenced Textile Mill Committee (TMC), which demanded a wage increase, a 40-hour workweek, and an end to child labor. Eventually, Eula became a member of the TMC’s executive committee serving in a leadership role as secretary.
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\r\nThe TMC organized thousands of workers into pickets, rallies, and parades that attracted the attention of law enforcement and city officials. The National Guard and local police used force and arrested many strikers, including Eula. She noted that she “was arrested a number of times... We sometimes stayed [in jail] for just a few hours, sometimes overnight or sometimes even days or weeks, but we were usually let out on bail. And a few days later maybe we were arrested again.”
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\r\nAfter six months, the strikers accepted a smaller pay cut and returned to work. For Eula, the 1928 strike sparked a life of union organizing. She traveled nationwide with the International Ladies Garment Workers and other unions to support other uprisings in the fight for justice and equality. Eula’s activism continued with her Communist Party affiliation in New Bedford and the region, and she refused to sign a Loyalty Pledge to promise that she was not a Communist.
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\r\nThe strike did not accomplish all the goals the TMC hoped for, but it did change the relationship between textile workers and mill owners in the city and New England for decades to come. After years of being ignored by the established mill craft unions, ethnic communities found a voice through the TMC and developed a new interest in unions, which encouraged them to come together to advocate for greater representation.","sponsor":"Lighting the Way: Historic Women of the SouthCoast, an initiative of New Bedford Whaling Museum","accessinfo":"Labor History Mural","lede":"","website":"www.historicwomensouthcoast.org","related_resources":["

da Silva, Lurdes C. “Eula Mendes: The Life Behind a Legacy of Migrant Labor Activism.” OJornal.com. Posted January 24, 2020. https://www.heraldnews.com/news/20200124/eula-mendes-life-behind-legacy-of-migrant-labor-activism.

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Georgianna, Daniel. The Strike of ‘28. New Bedford: Spinner Publications, Inc., 1993.

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Moniz, Miguel. “Eulalia Mendes: The Life Behind a Legacy.” Dartmouth Community Media. February 8, 2020. http://75.147.58.17/CablecastPublicSite/show/5670?channel=1.

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“New Bedford Mill Workers Go on Strike.” Mass Moments. https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/new-bedford-strikers-cast-vote/submoment/new-bedford-mill-workers-go-on-strike.html.

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O’Leary, Ann. “Eulalia Mendes.” New Bedford Whaling Museum. Lighting the Way. https://historicwomensouthcoast.org/eulalia-mendes/.

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Santos, Michael W. “Community and Communism: The 1928 New Bedford Textile Strike,” Labor History 26, no. 2 (1985): 230-249.

"],"factoids":["

Factoid: Eula’s arrest record prevented her from becoming a naturalized United States citizen. At the same time, the FBI labeled foreign-born labor organizers as subversive aliens, increasing their vulnerability to deportation. Eula was detained on Ellis Island for about six months as part of an anti-communist campaign to silence and imprison labor activists. In 1953, she was scheduled for deportation as a subversive alien, despite support from friends and allies to reverse the decision. Since fascist Portugal was exiling or executing returned leftists, Eula’s birthplace was not a good option. Eventually, she received asylum from Poland and was allowed to leave the United States. She remained in Poland for 50 years until her death in 2004.

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Factoid: After World War II, when the Portuguese community in New Bedford took on Americanization goals and communism was looked at with increasing skepticism, Eula’s activities were seen by many as un-American and un-Portuguese. Nevertheless, she remained committed to creating a more just society by opposing power inequalities and supporting migrant worker rights.

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Tip: To listen to Eula Mendes talk about the New Bedford Textile Workers' Strike of 1928 listen to this interview conducted in 1985.

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Tip: Educators can find supplemental resources, suggested lessons and activities, and connections to Massachusetts Standards at https://historicwomensouthcoast.org/education/organizing-new-bedford/.

"],"files":{"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/15c3729ec4eea86380a4a3b3fe029c10.jpg":{"id":1621,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Eula Mendes","description":"Eulalia “Eula” Mendes (1910-2004) pictured in 1928, courtesy of Spinner Publications Archives. | Spinner Publications Archives | 1928","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/15c3729ec4eea86380a4a3b3fe029c10.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/3dab936499a5c2f8d023ac6e5610656a.jpg":{"id":1622,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"New Bedford's Labor History Mural","description":"Painted in 2001 by Dan Devenny, the "Labor History Mural" tells the history of New Bedford’s labor movements. It includes a portrayal of Textile Mill Committee strike captain Augusto Pinto who worked with Eula Mendes during the 1928 Strike. The factory where Eula worked no longer stands. | New Bedford National Whaling Historical Park | 2019","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/3dab936499a5c2f8d023ac6e5610656a.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/f91ed59995c3451efa538af8edb9188e.jpg":{"id":1623,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Eula Mendes with members of the Textile Mill Committee in 1928","description":"Eula Mendes served as secretary of the Textile Mill committee, during the period of the 1928 strike. Here she meets with fellow leaders (from left to right) Eli Keller, William Murdoch, Eula Mendes, and Fred Beal. Courtesy of Spinner Publications Archive. | Spinner Publications Archives | 1928","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/f91ed59995c3451efa538af8edb9188e.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/original/69db65ada46f8852e6be8dbb8fc1cd25.m4v":{"id":1634,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"The Labor Movement in the United States","description":"This video from History provides an overview of the impact of the labor movement in America throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewu-v36szlEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewu-v36szlE | Sep 26, 2017"}}}