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Oral history interview with Cary Joseph Allen, Jr., April 3, 1980 interview H-0001, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). Cover Image E-book

Oral history interview with Cary Joseph Allen, Jr., April 3, 1980 interview H-0001, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Interview H-0001, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) (other title)
Interview with Cary Joseph Allen, Jr., April 3, 1980 (portion title)
Allen, Cary Joseph. (interviewee). Hester, Rosemarie (interviewer). Southern Oral History Program. (Added Author). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project) (Added Author). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. (Added Author).

Summary: Cary Joseph Allen, Jr., was an aluminum worker for Alcoa in Badin, North Carolina, during the 1930s. Focusing specifically on efforts to unionize aluminum workers circa 1936 to 1937, Allen describes how initially the only organized labor in the community was within the American Federation of Labor. With weak representation in the AFL, Allen and some of his fellow workers organized to establish a local branch of the Aluminum Workers of America in Badin, N.C. With the goal of local autonomy for the newly formed union, Allen describes local working and living conditions. Alcoa exercised a strong paternalistic influence within the community, and Allen discusses the poor living conditions workers faced in company housing. Moreover, the strong paternalistic influence, according to Allen, made it initially difficult for the union to attract new members. Fearful of losing their jobs, workers were reluctant to organize. Despite these kinds of early setbacks, Allen emphasizes the long-term goals of the union to better working conditions, earn higher wages, and challenge the company's control over the community. By 1937, efforts to unionize had succeeded.

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Record details

  • Physical Description: electronic resource
    remote
    1 online resource.
  • Edition: Electronic edition
  • Publisher: [Chapel Hill, N.C.] : University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2006.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Duration: 01:00:13.
Interview participants: Cary Jospeh Allen, Jr., interviewee; Rosemarie Hester, interviewer.
Text encoded by Mike Millner. Sound recordings digitized by Steve Weiss.
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 Feb. 29, 2008).
Type of Computer File or Data Note:
Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 78.1 kilobytes, 110 megabytes.
Original Version Note:
Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series H, Piedmont industrialization, 1974-1980, interview H-0001, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 21 p.
Funding Information Note:
Funding from the Institute for 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:
Allen, Cary Joseph Interviews
AFL-CIO.
Aluminum Company of America.
Company towns North Carolina Badin
Labor unions North Carolina Badin Officials and employees Interviews
Paternalism North Carolina Badin
Steel industry and trade Employees Labor unions Organizing North Carolina Badin
Steel industry and trade North Carolina Badin Employees Interviews
Genre:
Oral histories.
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