A group of forty-nine African-American men, women, and children decided to go on strike after they demanded a raise of $1.25 an hour or $9 dollars a day. They were only being paid $3 per day for using a hoe, and $6 a day if they drove a tractor. When they first went on strike, they moved into the Greenville Industrial College building, 140 S. 8th St. in Greenville. After eviction, they bought five acres and set up Army surplus tents where they lived for months. About three miles southeast of Leland, Mississippi, was Strike City, Mississippi, as the Memphis Press-Scimitar called it.