Two Sanitation Workers Killed

If it were possible to point to any one event that sparked the 1968 strike, it would probably be the deaths of two sanitation workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker. On a rainy first of February, both men took shelter inside the back of an old model garbage truck. Newly elected mayor Henry Loeb had purchased the truck when he was public works commissioner in the late 1950s. Suddenly, the garbage compressing piston malfunctioned, crushing both men. One man almost made it out.In response, the city offered to pay their relatives $500.00 each for funeral expenses, but it would not approve death benefits. Neither man had life insurance. In fact, Walker’s wife had to use her husband’s last check to pay for his burial. All of this helped set off a powder keg of resentment within the city sanitation department that certainly helped inspire many of them to walk off the job and take up protest signs that read, “I am a man.”

Walker left behind a wife and 5 children with one more on the way. His wife was pregnant with their sixth child at the time of his death. It also appears that he provided financial support to his mother. It took until July 1969 for his family to receive substantial compensation through a special resolution of the city council. They received a lump sum of a little more than $13,000.00. This was after a lawsuit on behalf of the family first by attorney John R. Tucker then by former public works commissioner Pete Sisson. Cole left behind a wife, but it is unclear whether he had any children or whether the city gave his family substantial compensation beyond money for burial expenses.

E. Brady Bartusch to Mary Walker, November 7 1968. Papers of Henry Loeb III. History Department,Memphis Public Libraries, Memphis, TN.
John R. Tucker to Henry Loeb, April 18 1968. Series III, Box 224, Folder 4. Papers of Henry Loeb III. History Department,Memphis Public Libraries, Memphis, TN.
Letter from Attorney John R. Tucker to Harry Blackburn of the Public Works Department, 1968. Civil Rights Collection, DIG Memphis.
Letter from City Attorney James Manire to Chief Administrative Officer Jerrold Moore, 1969. Civil Rights Collection, DIG Memphis.
Letter from Mayor Loeb to Mrs. Walker, 1968. Civil Rights Collection, DIG Memphis.
Letter from Mayor Loeb to Mrs. Cole, 1968. Civil Rights Collection, DIG Memphis.
Letter from Mrs. Mary Walker to Mayor Loeb, 1968. Civil Rights Collection, DIG Memphis.
Letter from Public Works Director Charles Blackburn to Mrs. Robert Walker, 1968. Civil Rights Collection, DIG Memphis.
Pete Sisson to Henry Loeb, February 28 1969. Papers of Henry Loeb III. History Department,Memphis Public Libraries, Memphis, TN.
Thompson, Joseph. “Garbage Truck Kills 2 Crewmen.” Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), Feb. 2, 1968.
Unknown. “Worker’s Final Check Pays On His Funeral.” Tri-State Defender (Memphis, TN), Feb. 10, 1968.
Unknown. “Death of Employee Nets Pay By City.” Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), Jul. 9, 1969.
Beifuss, Joan Turner. At The River I Stand. 2nd ed. Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, 1990.