Payton, Boyd E., 1908-1984

Labor leader in Willingboro (Burlington Co.), N.J.

Labor leader, of Willingboro (Burlington Co.), N.J.

Boyd Ellsworth Payton was born in 1908 in Dobbin, W. Va. As a youth he aspired to be a minister, but after graduating from high school (1926), he began working for Celanese Corporation in Cumberland, Md. There he helped form a union, in 1936, and, in 1941, he was elected president of his local. In 1943, Payton began working for the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) as regional director for Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 1948 he was elected an international vice president and, in 1953, he was transferred to Charlotte as Carolina Regional Director.

In this capacity Payton became involved in the Harriet-Henderson Mills strike, beginning in 1958. As a result of his alleged participation in a conspiracy to dynamite the mill and a power substation, Payton was jailed in 1960. Through the efforts of a concerned public, which included Harry Golden and Billy Graham, Governor Terry Sanford granted Payton clemency in 1961 and pardoned him in 1964. The Henderson incident, the conviction, and related events are described in more detail below. These events are also described by Payton in his book Scapegoat: Prejudice/Politics/Prison (see Series 2).