Created: 9/14/2009 12:30:49 PM 
Graham, NC -- Crystal Lee Sutton, the woman who influenced labor rights and inspired the 1979 movie, "Norma Rae," died Friday.
Sutton lived in Burlington resident and had donated many of her papers to Alamance Community College in 2007.
"She chose ACC because she felt like we were for the working people and that's what she stood for her whole life," said Sheila Street, director of the Learning Resources Center at ACC.
Sutton's son said Monday that his mother died in Hospice care Friday after a long battle with brain cancer. Jay Jordan said his mother got little profit from the movie and lived modestly. The film recounted her battle against low pay and poor conditions at J.P. Stevens in northeast North Carolina.
"At that point in time, this was a big deal for a woman to stand up and take the lead in anything of that magnitude, but she did," Street said.
Actress Sally Field portrayed Sutton's organizing efforts in the film and won a best-actress Academy Award for her role.
One of the newest additions to the school's collection is a letter written by Sally Field, dated Sept. 3, 2009. Street said Field wrote it after Sutton's niece wrote to her about Sutton's health.
In the letter, Field wrote, "Portraying Crystal Lee in Norma Rae, however loosely based, not only elevated me as an actress, but as a human being."
Jordan said his mother spent years as a labor organizer.
"I think that her primary legacy is that one person can actually change things," Street said.
Sutton later became a certified nursing assistant but had not been able to work for several years.
To read more about Sutton's contributions to labor rights, the movie and her collection at Alamance Community College, click here.
Associated Press / WFMY News 2
