WS Chronicle

When discussing the history of Winston-Salem and the fight for equality, it’s impossible not to include the contributions of Velma Hopkins. Hopkins’ work for equality in the workforce for the Black community and women predates the Civil Rights Act and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom by two decades. 

In 1943, while working as a stemmer at R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Hopkins led a month-long strike to protest poor wages, hazardous working conditions, and segregated workspaces. During the strike more than 10,000 people marched through the streets of downtown Winston-Salem with picket signs. The strike led to Hopkins and other Black women working at Reynolds forming a union called Local 22, which negotiated better treatment, wages, and benefits on behalf of the employees. 

For their willingness to stand for what they believed was right, Hopkins and Local 22 gained national attention. And to this day it is the only union ever to be formed in the history of R.J.R. Tobacco Company.  

Even after Local 22, was unsanctioned in 1950, Hopkins continued her work to uplift communities in need. She was instrumental in starting feeding programs for children and the poor, helping integrate schools, helping the elderly, registering voters and more.  

Hopkins’ work in the community would also inspire an entire generation of activists to follow, including Dr. Larry Little and Nelson Malloy, co-founders of the Winston-Salem Black Panther Party, Earline Parmon, the first Black senator from Forsyth County, longtime County Commissioner Walter Marshall, and the first Black women on the Winston-Salem City Council, Virginia K. Newell and Vivian Burke and others.  

In 2013, at a historic marker unveiling honoring Local 22, Dr. Little described Hopkins as “a strong and audacious woman” 

Parmon said, “I stand here today because of the courageous women who refused to bow to the pressures of the maternalistic power brokers of the day.” 

Mayor Pro Tempore Denise ‘DD’ Adams said she would not be who she is today without Hopkins. Adams, who has represented the North Ward on the Winston-Salem City Council since 2009, said she was introduced to Hopkins by Parmon. Adams said she can still remember those late-night trips to Hopkins’ house with Parmon and others, to discuss various ways to move the community forward. 

Although she was small in stature and stood less the 5’5, Adams said when Hopkins walked into a room, she had a presence that made her seem like she was 7’5. “She was powerful. And her presence and her passion, even in the early ‘80s, was just so strong,” said Adams earlier this week when asked about Hopkins.  

“My passion for public service was amped up when I met people like Velma Hopkins … I can honestly say that this city is far better because of her and her willingness to stand up for others and not just herself.”  

Adams said the city needs to do more to honor Black heroes like Hopkins and others who paved the way right here in Winston-Salem. “It’s important that we honor those who came before us and not just during February. Like I tell people all the time, Black people built this town,” she said.