Actress Sally Field won an Oscar for her portrayal of this textile factory worker who spun her belie

Actress Sally Field won an Oscar for her portrayal of this textile factory worker who spun her belief in workers’ rights into forming a union…much to the chagrin of her higher-ups. Norma Rae was based on a real person–union organizer Crystal Lee Sutton, who agitated for better working conditions for her fellow workers at the J.P. Stevens textile plant in North Carolina during the 1970s. Sutton’s fictional counterpart introduced the worker’s rights cause to moviegoing audiences across the United States, and “Norma Rae” remains a classic underdog story interwoven with a timeless social message.