Anne Burlak

Anne Burlak Timpson (or “Red Flame”; May  24th, 1911–July 9th, 2002) was a well-known union organizer.

In 1928, Timpson was a representative in the founding (starting) convention (meeting) for the National Textile Workers Union. During the 1930’s, she worked with the union in textile mills and held protests there almost every day. During this time, she was arrested moments before she was supposed to give a speech at an Atlanta hall. She spent seven weeks in jail before facing the death penalty for violating Georgia's insurrection law. However, she was eventually released and the charges were dropped. She then became one of the leaders in the Lawrence textile strike where she organized protests against layoffs, pay cuts, and shortened hours. She earned the title the “Red Flame” at this time. In 1932, she led a group of 3,000 people from Rhode Island in the national Hunger March to Washington D.C. Shortly after, she became an official organizer for the National Textile Workers Union. She was granted the Wonder Woman Award by the Wonder Woman Foundation in 1982 and was later recognized by the Rhode Island Labor Society in 1990.