Crystal Lee Sutton

Crystal Lee Sutton was an American union organizer and advocate. The 1979 film Norma Rae was based on events in her life, after she was fired from her job at the J.P. Stevens textile mill  in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina for  organizing against poor working conditions.

Despite being fired and arrested at the textile mill for her organizing efforts, Sutton ultimately helped workers at J.P Stevens win the right to be represented by the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) in 1974. Sutton went on to become a public figure and the face of union organizing, being interviewed by Good Morning America, The New York Times Magazine, and other major news outlets and publications. Sutton passed away  in 1940.