Oral History Interview with Dora Scott Miller, June 6, 1979. Interview H-0211. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
Dora Scott Miller grew up in Apex, North Carolina, and finished high school before marrying and taking a job at the Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company in Durham, where she spent nearly four decades. During her tenure there, Miller watched the company evolve into a racially integrated, unionized company. However, much of this interview focuses on her experiences there before World War II, when a non-union workforce primarily consisting of black women worked long hours for little pay under white foremen. Miller and her coworkers kept their mouths shut to keep their jobs, but maintained enough strength to vote in a union when it arrived and to form a supportive community outside of the workplace. This interview should prove a rich source of information for researchers interested in southern industrial work from the perspective of an African American woman.
Excerpts
Intraracial conflict among African Americans
Routines and racial composition at Liggett and Myers
No complaints despite tiring tobacco factory work
Unionization helps black workers address wage discrimination
Non-union workers have no way to redress poor treatment
Few benefits for workers at Liggett and Myers
The pressures of pay-by-the-pound work
Hiring procedures at Liggett and Myers
The role of a union at Liggett and Myers
Racism diminishes the benefits of unions for black workers
A difficult work environment at Liggett and Myers
Despite difficulties, remembering employment at Liggett and Myers as a good job
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Subjects
Trade-unions--African American membership
African American women tobacco workers--North Carolina
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Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove
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