Frank Gorman Interview

Partial Transcript: David Gracy: Mr. Frank Gorman to David Gracy, Lawrence, Massachusetts , August the...today the 8th? The 8th, 1973. So let's start at the beginning, you were born in England, tell me about that. Who were your parents, were they...?
Frank Gorman: Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, half Irish, English Irish [inaudible], and left when I was born in 1890.

Segment Synopsis: Frank Gorman was a labor leader and member of various labor organizations in the South.

David Gracy interviews Frank Gorman and asks him about his immigration from England to the United States, why he left, and his parents' work in textile mills. Audio is poor in this segment.

Subjects: Discrimination in employment; Emigration and immigration law; Families; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gorman: We worked in the mills in Rhode Island, in Massachusetts, right here in Lawrence too, until 1922.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman talks about his experience managing a strike in 1922 and his previous job with the postal service before becoming involved with textile mills and unions, specifically the National Wool Sorters and Graders Association. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: National Wool Sorters and Graders Association; union organizing; unions outside the South

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor unionsLabor union members; Postal service--Employees; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Did you first join the National Wool Sorters and Graders?
Gorman: Yeah.
Gracy: Was there a choice or was that the only one?

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses his membership and activity with the National Wool and Graders Association. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: National Wool Sorters and Graders Association; conflicts between mill workers and management; union organizing; unions outside the South; violence during the strike

Subjects: Discrimination in employment; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Was the 1912 strike the first one that you had seen?
Gorman: I've seen some small strikes in Rhode Island... first big strike that I had experienced.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman talks about various strikes he participated in and led. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: Central Labor Union

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Was it easy to get involved in union activity? I mean, in working up in the offices, or was there great competition?
Gorman: Well, I had some- no there wasn't any competition.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman talks about difficulties associated with joining and serving for unions. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: blacklisting; union organizing

Subjects: Discrimination in employment; Labor leaders; Labor union locals; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Was the Providence Local composed of people an an English background, or you have a-
Gorman: Most of them, most of them...

Segment Synopsis: Gorman talks about being the leader of the Providence Local and membership demographics. Audio is poor in this segment.

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); Wages

Partial Transcript: Gorman: ...part of a million textile workers in the continental United States... between the two unions...

Segment Synopsis: Gorman talks about efforts to unionize in the South and the types of unions that existed at this time. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: Congress of Industrial Organizations; Textile Workers Union of America; United Textile workers of America; union organizing

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United Textile Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Gracy: When did you become president of the National Wool Sorters and Graders?
Gorman: That would be in 1913.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses his roles with the National Wool Sorters and Graders and his position for the United Textile Workers of America. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: National Wool Sorters and Graders; United Textile Workers of America; union organizing

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United Textile Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Gorman: As a matter of fact, I was on a committee before that and we had a meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, much before that.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses his experiences as part of the American Federation of Labor and his appointment to represent textile workers in the early 1930s. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: American Federation of Labor

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gorman: As a matter of fact, the colored people were not allowed to work in the operation of the industry.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses African American workers and obstacles in joining unions. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: African-American mill workers; eviction from mill village houses; segregation; segregation in unions

Subjects: African Americans--Employment; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Race discrimination; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Well now the newspapers said- the newspapers ridiculed the union after that because they said that the union claimed to have had an agreement with the company to take these strikers back and then the company didn't take them back. Was there an agreement, did the company renege?
Gorman: You're talking about Danville.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses the blacklist of strikers and mill owners' opposition to unions. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: blacklisting; conflicts between mill workers and management; mill managers

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Well now Danville as I understood it, was one of the -- the conditions were among the best in the South. It doesn't mean they were good, but they were among the best.
Gorman: That's right.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman talks about the union's pushback against poor working conditions in the mills and violence associated with strikers' opposition to mills. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: anti-union sentiment in the South; conflicts between mill workers and management; mill owners; violence during the strike

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United Textile Workers of America; Violence in the workplace

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Did President Green give you all the support in Danville that you thought he should?
Gorman: He gave us support, but not enough to take care of the...we had... well that's about eight or nine thousand workers involved in that strike

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses the various strike benefits and sources of support for strikers and the union, though he claims this support was insufficient because of demand. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: strike benefits

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Labor unions--Strike benefits; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: [inaudible]

Segment Synopsis: Audio is inaudible in this segment.

Partial Transcript: Gorman: ...And it is was the leadership. I was the Vice President.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses his roles within the United Textile Workers of America and the National Recovery Administration. Audio is poor in this segment and is frequently inaudible.

Keywords: National Recovery Administration; United Textile Workers of America; union organizing

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United States. National Recovery Administration; United Textile Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Gorman: Finally, Roosevelt at that time was a very close friend- as a matter of fact, for years, he was a close friend of the Callaways in Georgia.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses Roosevelt's efforts to assist the strikers and his own interactions with the president. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: Cason Callaway; mill managers; mill owners; union organizing

Subjects: Emigration and immigration law; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); Warm Springs (Ga.)

Partial Transcript: Gorman: Well, Roosevelt did what he could. He appointed these boards and commissions.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses Roosevelt's efforts to assist the unions and strikers through government commissions and negotiations. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: labor legislation; union organizing

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gorman: But mostly in the synthetics, the man-made made fibers, instead of the natural fibers of cotton and wool.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses the shift from natural to synthetic fibers and the modernization of machinery and factories. Audio is poor in this segment.

Subjects: Cotton textile industry; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Machinery; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gorman: Today while we're the- when we reached about '37, that was the advent of the CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses the advent and evolution of the CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations and next steps for the textile industry. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: Congress of Industrial Organizations; labor legislation

Subjects: Congresses and conventions; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Joe Jacobs suggested that- or he wanted me to ask you if you thought that Roosevelt's personal failure to get the victims of the 1934 strike taken care of...Mr. Jacobs though that led to some of FDR's legislation with regard to labor -- to improve the labor situation, some of those acts in '35 and so forth. Do you think that's the case? Do you think --
Gorman: Undoubtedly. That's correct.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses labor legislation and laws that helped drive the social reform movement. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (The Wagner Act); labor legislation; union organizing

Subjects: Labor laws and legislation; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Minimum wage; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Let me go back a minute here. When did the National Wool Sorters and Graders- did it come into the UTW? How did you get from one to the other?
Gorman: That's right. That's- we were a separate organization, the National Wool Sorters and Graders Association.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses his movement across different labor organizations and talks in detail about the National Wool Sorters and Graders Association. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: National Wool Sorters and Graders Association; United Textile Workers of America; union organizing

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United Textile Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Gracy: When did you become an officer of the United Textile Workers?
Gorman: In nineteen... in 1920.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman recalls his tenure as an officer of the United Textile Workers of America (UTW) between 1920 and 1937. He also recalls other leaders during this time and their role in the organization. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: United Textile Workers of America; union organizing

Subjects: Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United Textile Workers of America

Partial Transcript: Gorman: Then we struggled along with- until the Depression of '29. The membership almost dissolved in those days.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses difficulty of unionization after the Great Depression and attempts to reorganize in the 1930s, as well as efforts to eliminate stretch outs. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: union organizing

Subjects: Great Depression; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: Gracy: Let me ask you one other question in here regarding problems of organizing in the South and maintaining the union strength. Someone has suggested that one of the textile union's problems was federationism... the local unions wanting control and the difficulty of the national in maintaining control over all these organizations. Is that true?
Gorman: That's true.

Segment Synopsis: Gorman discusses the establishment of federations and the division of authority with international unions. Audio is poor in this segment.

Keywords: federations; international unions

Subjects: International labor activities; Labor leaders; Labor union members; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts--Textile industry; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)