Paul Short, Betty Short, Pauline Pearson, and Mary L Wiggins Interview

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: -- and where you were living and what mill you were working in at the time.

Segment Synopsis: Pauline Pearson and Paul Short discuss how the textile workers' strike of 1934 started at the Manville Jenks plant.

Keywords: flying squadrons; union organizing; women mill workers

Subjects: Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); Textile workers; Wages

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: I've heard many people say that the reason why the struck was because of the stretch out.

Segment Synopsis: Pauline Pearson discusses the relationship between mill management and workers and the impact that living in a mill village had on that.

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

Subjects: Textile workers

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Okay, alright, so you were telling me your name is Betty Pearson Short.

BETTY SHORT: Right.

Segment Synopsis: Betty Short discusses an incident she saw as a child invovling a mill manager and strikers, as well as discussing flying squadrons.

Keywords: conflicts between mill workers and management; flying squadrons; picket lines; violence during the strike

Subjects: Gastonia (N.C.); Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Now was your family working in the mill too?

PAUL SHORT: Yeah some of my brothers were.

Segment Synopsis: Betty Short and Pauline Pearson discuss how Paul Short's family was moved around the mill village depending on the number of workers in the family and the condition of the houses in the mill village.

Keywords: mill villages

Subjects: Working class--Dwellings

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Could you tell me your name and the address of where we are right now?

MARY L. WIGGIANS: My name is Mary L. Wiggins. I live at 510 South Yates in Gastonia North Carolina

Segment Synopsis: Mary L. Wiggins discusses going to work in the textile mills and conditions in the mill.

Keywords: women mill workers

Subjects: Child labor; Gastonia (N.C.); Wages; Working class--Education

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND :Your work, I imagine, changed in 1932, '33 when Roosevelt came in--

MARY L. WIGGINS: With what?

Segment Synopsis: Mary L. Wiggins discusses the impact of the NRA, several previous textile strikes in Gastionia, the textile workers' strike of 1934, and evictions from mill housing due to the strike

Keywords: National Recovery Administration; eight hour workday; eviction from mill village houses

Subjects: Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United States. National Recovery Administration; Wages

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: In this parade there is lots of people openly marching with the union, it says UTW 212--

MARY L. WIGGANS: Yeah.

Segment Synopsis: Mary L. Wiggins watches and discusses a newsreel and discuss the textile workers' strike of 1934.

Keywords: Labor Day; Labor Day parade; flying squadrons; newsreels

Subjects: Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); United Textile Workers of America

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: So there were local people, it wasn't like they were all from--

MARY L. WIGGINS: No, they were local people.

Segment Synopsis: Mary L. Wiggins discusses who participated in the strike and her reaction to union organizing.

Keywords: flying squadrons; newsreels; union organizing

Subjects: Textile workers--Labor unions