STFU Museum... Wait, what?

Found this through the good people of Fark:

The great State of Arkansas has opened a museum in the quaint little town of Tyronza celebrating an organization which brought together the sharecroppers of the region in order to better protect their jobs and job safety. Oppressed tenant workers and day laborers across Arkansas joined, both black and white, and invited women to join, encouraging them to accept some leadership roles.

This organization was run on Socialist principles, which ultimately led to its downfall during the 1950s McCarthy era. During their 20-ish years, they endured heavy criticism, arrests and even a few beat-downs. But endure they did, until advancing technology, subsequent mass migration of farm workers to the cities, and the anti-Communist/anti-Socialist mindset of the 1950s made the group "increasingly irrelevant."

The organization called itself "Southern Tenant Farmer's Union." The museum is named for the group, and the article shortened the organization's name into a quaint acronym: "STFU."

Hope you enjoyed this little foray into history. Now GBTW!


Many thanks to the Arkansas Times for posting a well-written article.