Refuse, Like the Girl in Blue

Author

Melanie Proctor
March 08, 2025

The last six weeks have been a maelstrom of hatred, fearmongering, and division. It’s easy to be overwhelmed. But it takes only one person to start a movement. And because it’s International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, I found a woman who did just that.

In April 1910, twenty-two-year-old Lula Spalding led a strike of 3,500 men, women, and girls out of tobacco plants in Louisville, Kentucky.[1] She fought for better wages, sanitation, and improved working conditions.

Her Kentucky protest caught attention across the country. A Spokane, Washington paper reported:

“One girl, and not a very big girl at that, accomplished what Wall street, the legislature and government investigators failed to do, when she forced the American Tobacco Co. to shut two immense stemmeries and practically close a plug tobacco factory.”[2]

 Lula left school at age 10 to work in the tobacco factory. After twelve years, the work had “taken its toll,” and Lula was ready to refuse:

All we ask is to be treated like human beings…

We have had to work or starve. But something was wrong. The scales didn’t seem to work right. I made $4.05 the week before the strike. Others made less. We couldn’t pay rent and scarcely had enough to eat.

As I sat in that dust-filled room the afternoon of the strike and thought of the warm, foul-smelling water, the dirty wash tank and the six girls who had fainted because of the hot rooms—remembering that in one day last summer 75 women fainted at work and were carried out from the stemmer room on stretchers—I couldn’t stand it any longer. I jumped to my feet, crying “Strike for your rights, girls. Follow me.”

In a moment, they were on their feet and followed me out of the room. We called out the boys and men, and then, at the head of 500, I went to the colored stemmery.

There, I jumped upon a keg and called to the workers to follow me. “We’ll follow the girl in blue,” the said. That’s where I got the name.[3] 

The paper noted that it was “the first time in history in a southern city” that white and Black people joined “in a common cause.”[4]

 Who was this girl in blue?

Lula (Henderson) Spalding Kern was born in October 1887 in Kentucky.[5] It appears that her father died within a few years of her birth; in 1900, Lula’s last name was different than her mother’s, and her mother had been married to John Rickles for nine years.[6] Lula’s mother was the child of Irish and German immigrants.[7]

Lula first married on 12 May 1903, to Willie Spalding.[8] They moved to Illinois where they had one child, Estelle.[9] But by 1910, Lula and Willie were again in Kentucky where they lived apart; Lula reportedly a widow.[10] Estelle lived with her father and his parents.[11] In 1913, Lula remarried, to John A. Kern.[12] This marriage stuck.[13]

Lula survived her second husband by another 21 years. She was also survived by her daughter Estelle (Spalding) Kernan, five grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and 7 great-great-grandchildren.[14]

115 years ago, one woman led a strike that lasted three weeks. She drew attention to injustice, part of a labor movement that is now again under attack. We will not return to 60-hour workweeks for unfair compensation, lining the pockets of oligarchs. Farm and factory workers deserve fair and safe working conditions. Teachers should be compensated for their education, time, and energy, and university professors should be allowed the freedom of thought enshrined in our Constitution. The time to refuse is now.

[1] “Mrs. Spalding Leads Strike,” Warsaw (Indiana) Daily Times, 1 Apr 1910, p. 3, col. 1; imaged, OldNews (www.oldnews.com). All websites cited were viewed 8 March 2025.

[2] “Girl Leads Strikers In Fight Against Big Trust,” The Spokane (Washington) Press, 22 Apr 1910, p. 11, cols. 1–3; imaged, OldNews (www.oldnews.com).  The article spells her last name “Spaulding,” but other records suggest that the correct spelling did not include the “u.” Records inconsistently state her first name as Lulu, Lula, and Lulie. “Lula” predominates and will be used here.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid. Spalding’s strike reportedly did not result in higher wages, but there is no doubt it contributed to the labor movement. “Tobacco Strike Ends,” Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), 26 Apr 1910, p. 1, col. 3; imaged, imaged, OldNews (www.oldnews.com). The brief article notes the workers returned at the old wage rate, but also describes textile, steel, and miners strikes in Pennsylvania and Canada.

[5] 1900 U.S. census, Jefferson, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville, enumeration district (ED) 111, page 133 (stamped), dwelling 187, family 224, Lulie Henderson (12) in household of John Rickles; imaged, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/23234721). The enumerator recorded her occupation as “at school.” It is possible the family did not want to admit she no longer attended school.

The 1890 census is almost entirely lost. “1890 Census,” National Archives and Records Administration (https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1890).  

[6] 1900 U.S. census, Jefferson, Kentucky, pop. sched., Louisville, ED 111, page 133 (stamped), dwell.187, fam. 224, Emma Rickles in household of John Rickles.

[7] 1910 U.S. census, Jefferson Co., Kentucky, Louisville, ED 212, sheet 9A, dwell. 150, fam. 180, Emma Rickles; imaged, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/8752879).

[8] Jefferson County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 137, Spalding–Henderson, 12 May 1903; imaged, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SS-SGMT). The marriage was witnessed by Julia Spalding and Amanda Rickels.

[9] "Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7C7-TJD), Entry for Estella Gertrude Spaulding, 19 Oct 1906.

[10] 1910 U.S. census, Jefferson Co., Kentucky, Louisville, ED 212, sheet 9A, dwell. 150, fam. 180, Lula Spalding in household of Emma Rickles). Both Emma and Lula are recorded as widows; it states that Lula did not have any children.

1910 U.S. census, Jefferson Co., Kentucky, Louisville, ED 31, sheet 5A, dwell. 95, fam. 98, William Spalding in household of Peter Spalding; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884). Julia Spalding was also enumerated in the household, confirming William’s identity. The enumerator appears to have included notations about how many marriages each person had, noting “M1” on William’s line. The census instructions did not require this level of detail.

William apparently died in 1911. FindAGrave, memorial 91879384, William P. Spalding (1884–1911), Saint Louis Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky; FindAGrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91879384/william-p-spalding); maintained by Mark Hall (ID 47532484).

[11] 1910 U.S. census, Jefferson Co., Kentucky, Louisville, ED 31, sheet 5B, dwell. 95, fam. 98, Estelle Spalding in household of Peter Spalding.

[12] “Marriage Licenses,” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), p. 10, col. 4; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/119279649).

[13] John died in 1951. Jefferson Co., Kentucky, death certificate no. 2275, John A. Kern, 2 Aug 1951; imaged, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222/records/1076266).

[14] “Kern, Mrs. Lula May,” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), p. B-14, col. 2; Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/image/110071852).