Maryland Historical Trust

Maryland Historical Trust logo

CRISFIELD, MD– The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Maryland Historical Trust announced a historical marker will be unveiled to commemorate the 1938 Pickers Strike. 

Members of the Holy Pickers Union Center, a group of active and former crab pickers, will host an event May 10 to honor the roughly 600 predominantly Black women who went on strike to protest wage cuts and demand union recognition. 

The occasion will mark 86 years since the strike, to the day, according to the Maryland Historical Trust. 

The five-week walkout ended when packing house owners agreed to recognize the cannery union and restore pay rates to 35 cents per gallon of crabmeat – following reduction to 5 cents per gallon. 

The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on May 10 at MD 413 (Crisfield Highway) across from Shiloh United Methodist Church, where the strikers convened in 1938. 

MDOT Assistant Secretary for Transportation Equity and Engagement Tony Bridges will attend with representatives from MDOT’s Office of Cultural Resources, according to a press release. 

Bridges will host the event alongside Reverend Emanuel Johnson.