Oral history interview with Thomas Burt, February 6, 1979 [electronic resource] : interview H-0194-2, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
Thomas Burt's wide array of jobs in and around Durham, N.C., ranged from working on a streetcar line to farming. Although he worked for only eighteen months in a tobacco factory, most of this interview is devoted to his experiences there. His descriptions of the factory contain many interesting and valuable details, from the lunchboxes full of irregularly cut cigarettes he and his fellow workers brought home after their shifts, to the swirling clouds of tobacco dust that would settle under feet and eventually become snuff, to the spirituals and blues songs the workers sang to pass the time. This interview provides a rich look at the tobacco industry in Durham in the first half of the 20th century, as well as a portrait of a colorful character.
Electronic resources
Record details
- Physical Description: 1 online resource
- Edition: Electronic edition
- Publisher: [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2007.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- Duration: 01:20:51.Interview participants: Thomas Burt, interviewee; Glenn Hinson, interviewer.Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South. It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.Title from menu page (viewed on June 6, 2008).
- Type of Computer File or Data Note:
- Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 107.2 kilobytes, 148.1 megabytes.
- Original Version Note:
- Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series H, Piedmont industrialization, interview H-0194-2, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Sharon King. Original transcript: 32 p.
- Funding Information Note:
- Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.
- System Details Note:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.System requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Burt, Thomas, 1900-1987 > Interviews.
African American men > North Carolina > Durham > Interviews.
Blue collar workers > North Carolina > Durham > Interviews.
Tobacco industry > North Carolina > Durham.
Tobacco workers > Employment > North Carolina > Durham.
Tobacco workers > North Carolina > Durham > Interviews.
Tobacco workers > North Carolina > Durham > Social life and customs. - Genre:
- Oral histories.
