Mary Lou Whitlock Interview

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Just so I can test this, why don't you tell me your name and the address here?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses her childhood, moving from the country to the mill villages, going to work at 12, and becoming a spinner.

Keywords: spinners

Subjects: Child labor; Rural-urban migration; Wages--Women

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: I've never been inside a mill. So if you could describe--

MARY LOU WHITLOCK: See--

HELFAND: the mill for me and what that's like, I'd appreciate it.

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses how cotton was moved through the mill to create a finished product and the gendered division of labor in the mill.

Keywords: African-American mill workers; doffer; spinners; women mill workers

Subjects: Textile factories; Textile workers

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Give me a sense of your day, when you got-- you know you woke up-- tell me about your day.

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock describes her day to day work in the textile mill as a spinner.

Keywords: mill villages; spinners; women mill workers

Subjects: Women textile workers; Working class women; Working class women--Family relationships

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: So you were telling me about that day of the strike.

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses her memories of the textile workers' strike of 1934.

Keywords: spinners

Subjects: Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); Textile workers--Labor unions

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: I've heard some people tell me that some people didn't get to go back to work afterwards, that they were black listed if they were real involved in the union.

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses whether or not people were blacklisted at her mill and the violence that occurred during the strike.

Keywords: picket lines; violence during the strike

Subjects: Blacklisting, Labor

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Do you want something for your foot or are you just exercising?

MARY LOU WHITLOCK: I just exercise it cause i have a bad knee.

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses why she has a bad knee.

Subjects: Textile workers--Health and hygiene

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: We were talking about courage.

MARY LOU WHITLOCK: About what?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses crossing the picket line during the textile workers' strike of 1934, why her husband went to work at other plants during the strike, and why her mill was chosen for the strike.

Keywords: picket lines

Subjects: Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Um people have told me that one of the reasons that folks went out on strike was because of the stretch out.

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses the impact of the National Recovery Act, and the mill houses.

Keywords: National Recovery Administration; eight hour workday; mill villages

Subjects: Minimum wage; Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945; Working class--Dwellings

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: How much were your expenses for lets say a week in 1934?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses her household expenses during the 1930s and how they managed during the strike.

Subjects: Food; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934); Working class women

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Did you get any sort of health insurance from the company?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses the healthcare that was provided by the company, and pay days.

Subjects: Textile workers--Health and hygiene

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Why do you think the company was so anti-union?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses the anti union sentiments of mill management and ownership and the impact that mill closing had on her community.

Keywords: mill managers; mill owners

Subjects: Textile workers--Labor unions

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: What were the rules here that the mill made for people that lived here? Were there rules

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses the rules the textile mill company had for the residents of the mill village.

Keywords: mill villages; paternalism

Subjects: Working class--Dwellings

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: What was it like when the strike was over, do you remember?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses how people dealt with the aftermath of the strike, and African American mill workers .

Keywords: African-American mill workers; aftermath of the strike

Subjects: African Americans--Segregation; Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: How much education did you say you had?

MARY LOU WHITLOCK: Hmm?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses her education, going to work in the mills at 12 and lying about her age in order to work at night.

Keywords: women mill workers

Subjects: Child labor; Marriage; Sharecroppers; Working class women; Working class--Education

Partial Transcript: JUDITH HELFAND: Were you surprised at all that violence that took place? At all that violence that took place?

Segment Synopsis: Mary Lou Whitlock discusses why she was upset with the union during the strike, and they work that she did.

Keywords: violence during the strike; women mill workers

Subjects: Textile Workers' Strike (Southern States : 1934)