Oral History Interview with Frank Durham, September 10 and 17, 1979. Interview H-0067. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
Frank Durham discusses how his family first came to work in the mills and describes other people they got to know there. Over the course of Durham's life, he followed his father's path, working his way up through the mill's supervisory ladder to become superintendent. His broad experience enables him to describe the inner workings of the mill, the ways management negotiated labor complaints with the employees, the social structure of the mill village, and the commonalities of mill town life. He also discusses many moments in employee life, including the ways they hazed new hires. As a part of community entertainment, many of the locals put together bands. Durham and some of his friends were in the Chatham Rabbits, and he proudly recalls how popular they were across the region. He describes how his parents disciplined them. Several of his relatives struggled with alcoholism and other addictions, and he discusses why such problems were common in mill towns. He ends the interview by talking about all the changes that have taken place since he started as a mill worker early in the century.
Excerpts
Mill family life
Jobs various family members held
The hierarchy of mill employees
Child labor, education, and family labor system
Paternalism toward mill managers
Informal medical practitioners
Layout of the mill and necessary working skills
The hierarchy of mill employees
Working culture inside the textile mill
Practical jokes, hazing, and race in the mill
Entertainment in the working community
Playing guitar for the Chatham Rabbits
Playing guitar for the Chatham Rabbits
Effect of the credit system on southern workers
Segregation of the mills and its eventual end
Jobs various family members held
The Civil War and regional identity
Mill families and discipline of children
Sexual harrassment in the mills
Alcohol use and abuse in the mill village
Mill workers move for greater opportunities
Adding electricity to the mill
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Subjects
Children--Employment--North Carolina
Textile workers--North Carolina--Social conditions
Bynum (N.C.)--Social life and customs
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