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Ivey C. Jones took a job at the White Furniture Factory in Mebane, NC, after high school and stayed there until new management closed the plant in 1993. In this interview, he recalls his sixteen years at the plant in a variety of positions, focusing on the period between the purchase of the factory by a competitor and the new owners' decision to shut it down. Jones's recollections emphasize an important change in one of the industries—in this case furniture—that have driven the economy of the North Carolina Piedmont for decades. The takeover of the White Furniture Factory brought a shift from a personal management style that responded to the needs of workers as community members to a more distant, profit-driven approach that put much greater stress on workers' economic contributions. Jones still resents this transition, which altered the atmosphere on the factory floor as demoralized employees, fearful for their jobs, struggled to meet escalating quotas. This interview highlights the fragility of the furniture industry by and the workers' struggle to maintain both their economic security and their humanity in a changing economic region.

This interview is part of the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), a collection of over 4,000 interviews housed at the Southern Historical Collection.

Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection

Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews

Furniture industry and trade--North Carolina

Furniture workers--North Carolina

White Furniture Company

North Carolina--Social conditions

Jones, Ivey C.