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Oral history interview with Andy Foley, May 18, 1994 interview K-0095, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). Cover Image E-book

Oral history interview with Andy Foley, May 18, 1994 interview K-0095, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Interview K-0095, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) (other title)
Interview with Andy Foley, May 18, 1994 (portion title)
Foley, Andy K. 1967- (interviewee). Cowie, Jefferson (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: Andy K. Foley made drawers for the White Furniture Company, but he did not stay on the job very long before the news came that the factory was going to close its doors. In this interview, he briefly describes his work routine and recalls his and his coworkers' responses to the closing. Like many of his coworkers, Foley worried a bit about his financial future, but his greatest concern was the dissolution of the friendships he formed on the job and as a member of the company softball team, and the loss of a fun work environment. This final element is the focus of this interview. Foley is an enthusiastic prankster, and he and his friends used the factory as a playground, playing jokes on one another and their coworkers. This sense of fun sustained him during a long period of unemployment, but he could not bring it to his new workplace, where horseplay is unwelcome. This interview emphasizes the unique, social atmosphere at the factory, drawing attention to a change that may have been echoed as North Carolina's industries endured challenging transitions in the 1980s and 1990s.

Electronic resources

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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, 2007.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Duration: 01:16:03.
Interview participants: Andy Foley, interviewee; Jeff Cowie, 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 February 12, 2008).
Type of Computer File or Data Note:
Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 199 kilobytes, 139 megabytes.
Original Version Note:
Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0095, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Jackie Gorman. Original transcript: 42 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:
Foley, Andy K 1967- Interviews
Hickory White Company.
White Furniture Company.
Furniture industry and trade North Carolina
Furniture workers North Carolina Mebane Interviews
Furniture workers North Carolina Mebane Social life and customs
Plant shutdowns North Carolina Mebane
Genre:
Oral histories.
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