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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 420 items) |
| Abstract | Robert Bruce Cooke, born in Swepsonville, N.C., who held positions in various textile mills in Virginia and North and South Carolina until 1941 when he became a supervisor at the Erwin Cotton Mills, Durham, N.C., from which he retired around 1963. He and his wife Aylene Edwards Cooke, who worked as a librarian when the couple lived in Rutherfordton, N.C., were active in many historical and art associations in the state. Included are a few items relating to the Pearl Cotton Mills, Durham, N.C., the Virginia Cotton Mills, Swepsonville, N.C., and the Mooresville Cotton Mills, Mooresville, N.C. Most items, however, relate to the Erwin Cotton Mills and include a 1909 work contract and many other items relating to the relationship between Erwin Mills and the United Textile Workers of America. Besides unionization, there are also items about workers losing jobs to machines. Many items in the 1940s relate to war production and rationing. Also included are letters, 1926-1954, relating to Cooke's numerous job searches. Although rarely unemployed, Cooke seems always to have sought a better position within the textile industry and sent, during this period, an almost continuous stream of letters of inquiry to most mills operating in the southeast. There are also materials relating to organizations in which Robert and Aylene were active, especially the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley, the English-Speaking Union, the North Carolina Society of County and Local Historians, and the Sons of the American Revolution. |
| Creator | Cooke, Robert Bruce, 1902-1973. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Processing Information
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Robert Bruce Cooke, born in Swepsonville, N.C., who held positions in various textile mills in Virginia and North and South Carolina until 1941 when he became a supervisor at the Erwin Cotton Mills, Durham, N.C., from which he retired around 1963. He and his wife Aylene Edwards Cooke, who worked as a librarian when the couple lived in Rutherfordton, N.C., were active in many historical and art associations in the state.
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Scope and Content
Included are a few items relating to the Pearl Cotton Mills, Durham, N.C., the Virginia Cotton Mills, Swepsonville, N.C., and the Mooresville Cotton Mills, Mooresville, N.C. Most items, however, relate to the Erwin Cotton Mills and include a 1909 work contract and many other items relating to the relationship between Erwin Mills and the United Textile Workers of America. Besides unionization, there are also items about workers losing jobs to machines. Many items in the 1940s relate to war production and rationing. Also included are letters, 1926-1954, relating to Cooke's numerous job searches. Although rarely unemployed, Cooke seems always to have sought a better position within the textile industry and sent, during this period, an almost continuous stream of letters of inquiry to most mills operating in the southeast. There are also materials relating to organizations in which Robert and Aylene were active, especially the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley, the English-Speaking Union, the North Carolina Society of County and Local Historians, and the Sons of the American Revolution.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence and Related Materials and Other Erwin Mills Material, 1909-1965.
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Subseries 1.1. Correspondence and Related Items, 1909-1965.
Arrangement: chronological.
The 1909 item is a photocopy of a work contract at Erwin Mills, calling for "perfect work" and prohibiting singing on the job. Letters 1918-1922 relate to the Pearl Cotton Mills, Durham, N.C., and to the Virginia Cotton Mills in Swepsonville, N.C., for which Cooke apparently worked.
In 1929, there is a copy of a letter from David Clark to the Liberal Club at Johns Hopkins University about unionization of textile workers in North Carolina. All through the early 1930s, there are many letters relating to unionization and to workers losing jobs to machines. In a letter of 5 September 1933 to the U.S. Department of Labor, Cooke compared the distress over "technological unemployment" to the panic in England at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In the mid-1930s, there are a few letters relating to meetings of the Southern Textile Association, and in 1939, there is a letter from K. Onishi & Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan, soliciting business from Cooke at the Mooreville Cotton Mills.
Many items in the 1940s relate to war production and rationing, particularly at Erwin Mills, which Cooke joined in 1941. In 1941, there are a few letters from servicemen to Cooke as supervisor of the Erwin Mills plant in Durham. Much material in the 1950s and early 1960s centers on labor relations, chiefly spurred by a 1954 report on relations between the United Textile Workers of America and Erwin Mills (see folder 13). Materials in this series show that much management training was conducted in its wake.
The few items from 1965 relate to the Durham City Council campaign of I. L. "Buck" Dean against Jack J. Priess, who apparently had the labor and African-American vote.
| Folder 1 |
1909, 1918-1929 |
| Folder 2 |
1931-1932 |
| Folder 3 |
1933 |
| Folder 4 |
1934-1940 |
| Folder 5 |
1941-1945 |
| Folder 6 |
1946-1949 |
| Folder 7 |
1950s |
| Folder 8 |
1960s |
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Subseries 1.2. Other Erwin Mills Material, 1941-1966.
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Series 2. Job Search, 1926-1954.
Correspondence relating to Robert Bruce Cooke's numerous, perhaps continuous, job searches. In 1926 letters, Cooke explained to prospective employers that he had attended the North Carolina Textile School for three years and was assistant chemist at the Dan River Cotton Mills, Danville, Va. In subsequent years, Cooke seems rarely to have been unemployed, but always interested in talking to other mills about positions that would advance his career. In 1928, he wrote from Fort Mill, S.C.; in 1930, from Rutherfordton. In 1936, he was employed at the Mooresville Cotton Mills.
During this period, Cooke appears to have sent an almost continuous stream of letters of inquiry to most mills operating in the southeast. In the mid-1930s, letters show that he was also investigating cotton mills in South America. The 1954 letter is a reply from Western Auto Supply about available franchise locations.
| Folder 16 |
1926-1930 |
| Folder 17 |
1931 |
| Folder 18 |
1932 |
| Folder 19 |
1933 |
| Folder 20 |
1935-1945; 1954 |
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Series 3. Other Activities, 1935-1972.
Materials relating to organizations in which Robert Bruce and Aylene Edwards Cooke were active, especially the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley, for which Robert served as vice-president; the English-Speaking Union; the North Carolina Society of County and Local Historians, for which both Robert and Aylene served as president; and the Sons of the American Revolution, for which Robert served as vice-president. Files contain correspondence and printed materials about the organizations' activities.