Oral history interview with Lacy Wright, March 10, 1975 [electronic resource] : interview E-0017, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
Lacy Wright was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the age of twelve, Wright left school in order to start working to help support his family. Wright's father worked for Cone Mills in Greensboro and arranged for Wright to work at the White Oak plant where he worked. Wright explains that it was a common practice for children to work at the same plant as their parents. Wright explains how company paternalism in the mills and in the mill villages helped to facilitate family ties in the workplace: children compromised approximately one-fourth of the labor force in the Cone textile plants during this time. Except of a brief stint with the post office in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Wright worked only for Cone Mills from the late 1910s into the mid-1960s, when he retired. All but two of those years were spent in the White Oak plant. During these years, Wright also lived in Cone Mill villages. Throughout the interview he discusses what it was like to live in company housing, stressing the paternal role of Cone Mills in the lives of their workers. Aside from some efforts at organization and one short-lived strike during the late 1910s and early 1920s, Cone Mill workers largely stayed out of the labor movement until the 1950s. Decent wages and a low layoff rate kept them out of the 1934 general strike, say Wright. Nevertheless, Cone Mill workers were increasingly drawn into the labor movement during the 1950s when organizers from the United Textile Workers/American Federation of Labor and the Textile Workers of America/Congress for Industrial Organization competed for support amongst Cone Mills plants. Wright describes this process and explains his own growing involvement in the labor movement during his last years as a worker for Cone Mills. In addition, he describes his general support of unionization and outlines what he perceives as unique challenges of labor organization in the South.
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: 01:34:44.Interview participants: Lacy Wright, interviewee; Mrs. Wright, interviewee; William Finger, interviewer; Chip Hughes, 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 May 23, 2008).
- Type of Computer File or Data Note:
- Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 194.3 kilobytes, 173 megabytes.
- Original Version Note:
- Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series E, Labor, interview E-0017, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Patricia Crowley. Original transcript: 46 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:
- Wright, Lacy, 1904-1985 > Interviews.
Wright, Lacy Mrs. > Interviews.
American Federation of Labor.
Cone Mills Corporation.
Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.)
Textile Workers Union of America.
Child labor > North Carolina > Greensboro.
Collective bargaining > North Carolina > Greensboro.
Company towns > North Carolina > Greensboro.
Labor union members > North Carolina > Greensboro > Interviews.
Strikes and lockouts > North Carolina > Greensboro.
Textile workers > Labor unions > Organizing > North Carolina.
Textile workers > North Carolina > Greensboro > Interviews.
Textile workers > North Carolina > Greensboro > Attitudes.
Textile workers > North Carolina > Greensboro > Social conditions. - Genre:
- Oral histories.
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| 246 | 3 | 0. | ‡aInterview with Lacy Wright, March 10, 1975 |
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| 500 | . | ‡aDuration: 01:34:44. | |
| 500 | . | ‡aInterview participants: Lacy Wright, interviewee; Mrs. Wright, interviewee; William Finger, interviewer; Chip Hughes, interviewer. | |
| 500 | . | ‡aText encoded by Jennifer Joyner. Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers. | |
| 500 | . | ‡aThis 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. | |
| 500 | . | ‡aTitle from menu page (viewed on May 23, 2008). | |
| 516 | . | ‡aText (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 194.3 kilobytes, 173 megabytes. | |
| 520 | . | ‡aLacy Wright was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the age of twelve, Wright left school in order to start working to help support his family. Wright's father worked for Cone Mills in Greensboro and arranged for Wright to work at the White Oak plant where he worked. Wright explains that it was a common practice for children to work at the same plant as their parents. Wright explains how company paternalism in the mills and in the mill villages helped to facilitate family ties in the workplace: children compromised approximately one-fourth of the labor force in the Cone textile plants during this time. Except of a brief stint with the post office in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Wright worked only for Cone Mills from the late 1910s into the mid-1960s, when he retired. All but two of those years were spent in the White Oak plant. During these years, Wright also lived in Cone Mill villages. Throughout the interview he discusses what it was like to live in company housing, stressing the paternal role of Cone Mills in the lives of their workers. Aside from some efforts at organization and one short-lived strike during the late 1910s and early 1920s, Cone Mill workers largely stayed out of the labor movement until the 1950s. Decent wages and a low layoff rate kept them out of the 1934 general strike, say Wright. Nevertheless, Cone Mill workers were increasingly drawn into the labor movement during the 1950s when organizers from the United Textile Workers/American Federation of Labor and the Textile Workers of America/Congress for Industrial Organization competed for support amongst Cone Mills plants. Wright describes this process and explains his own growing involvement in the labor movement during his last years as a worker for Cone Mills. In addition, he describes his general support of unionization and outlines what he perceives as unique challenges of labor organization in the South. | |
| 534 | . | ‡pOriginal version: ‡tSouthern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series E, Labor, interview E-0017, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ‡nTranscribed by Patricia Crowley. ‡nOriginal transcript: 46 p. | |
| 536 | . | ‡aFunding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview. | |
| 538 | . | ‡aMode of access: World Wide Web. | |
| 538 | . | ‡aSystem requirements: Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player. | |
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