Five decades ago, striking sugar workers at Talisman Sugar Company, 20 miles south of Belle Glade, Florida asked for volunteers to stand with them in their nonviolent struggle against abuse and oppression. Among those responding to their call was a young Jewish woman, Nan Freeman, 18 and a student at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
Already a veteran student activist, Nan stood near the plant gate at 3:15 a.m. on January 25, 1972, trying to leaflet and talk with strikebraking truck drivers. A double trailer truck carrying 70,000 pounds of sugar cane sped through, knocking her into a guard rail and crushing her to death.
Nan became the first of five United Farm Workers martyrs, one woman and four men killed during strikes. "To some [Nan Freeman] is a young girl who lost her life in a tragic accident," Cesar Chavez said. "To us she is a sister who picketed with farm workers in the middle of the night because of her love for justice. She is a young woman who fulfilled the commandments by loving her neighbors even to the point of sacrificing her own live."
The photograh a mural by artist Danielle Dygert at New College depicts Nan Freeman with two farm workers in the cane fields. "It commemorates Nan's student activism, and ensures her sacrifice is not forgotten."
From a bulletin celebrating the memory of Nan Freeman and the four other martyrs New College, Sarasota FL, April 2, 2022.
