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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.
Size | 40 items (1.5 linear feet) |
Abstract | The Chapel Hill Historical Society was formed in 1966 in Chapel Hill, N.C. In 1974, the oral history committee was established to conduct interviews with local Chapel Hill and Carrboro, N.C., residents in an effort to preserve first-hand recollections about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, local African American communities, and local mill-worker communities. One of the first major projects conducted was a series of interviews with men and women who had worked in the Carrboro textile mills in the early and mid-20th century. The collection consists of 40 of the original 117 oral history interviews conducted by the Chapel Hill Historical Society between 1974 and 1978 in the "Generations of Carrboro Mill Families" project. Interviewees include mill workers, mill supervisors, and several doctors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who discuss health in the early 20th century. Interview topics include working in the Carrboro mills from the turn of the 20th century through the Great Depression and World War I; work conditions, social relations, and union organizing in the mills; everyday life in North Carolina and especially in Carrboro in the early 20th century, including displacement from farms into the town, housing conditions, health, education, family life, childbirth, and women in work; and the University of North Carolina. |
Creator | Chapel Hill Historical Society. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Joyce Chapman, February 2008
Encoded by: Joyce Chapman, February 2008
Updated by: Anne Wells, June 2021
Back to TopThe 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.
The Chapel Hill Historical Society was formed in 1966 in Chapel Hill, N.C. In 1974, the oral history committee was established to conduct interviews with local Chapel Hill and Carrboro, N.C., residents in an effort to preserve first hand-recollections about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, local African American communities, and local mill-worker communities. One of the first major projects conducted was a series of interviews with men and women who had worked in the Carrboro textile mills in the early and mid-20th century. The purpose of the project was to gather biographical, social, and cultural information about the first generation of mill workers in the town and to compare their lives to those of their sons and daughters. The interviews were supplemented by documentary research into government, business, and census records.
Co-directors and principal investigators for the project were High P. Brinton, Brent D. Glass, and Valerie Quinney. The Chapel Hill Historical Society obtained a grant of $2,500 from the North Carolina Bicentennial Commission to provide support for the transcription of 70 interviews. The Southern Oral History Program provided technical and administrative assistance throughout the project.
Back to TopThe collection consists of 40 of the original 117 oral history interviews conducted by the Chapel Hill Historical Society between 1974 and 1978 in the "Generations of Carrboro Mill Families" project. Interviewees include mill workers, mill supervisors, and several doctors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who discuss health in the early 20th century. Interview topics include working in the Carrboro mills from the turn of the 20th century through the Great Depression and World War I; work conditions, social relations, and union organizing in the mills; everyday life in North Carolina and especially in Carrboro in the early 20th century, including displacement from farms into the town, housing conditions, health, education, family life, childbirth, and women in work; and the University of North Carolina.
Back to TopArrangement: Roughly alphabetical. Audio interviews are listed with their corresponding transcript, when available.
The majority of interviews have both audio and complete transcripts. Several interviews have other written materials, such as genealogical items or notes. Some cassettes contain two separate, unrelated interviews. Carrboro, N.C., is often referred to by the older names "West Chapel Hill" or "Venable".
Processing information: Note that interviews may contain more than one interviewee. Processing archivists re-numbered interview audiocassettes in June 2021 to facilitate digitization. Original cassettes numbers, which reflected the position of the interviews in the original group of 117 interviews, are listed for reference.
Audiocassette C-4205/1 |
Albright, Frances Medlin, 8 July 1975Mill worker. Original number: C-4205/1 |
Folder 1 |
Albright, Frances Medlin, 8 July 1975: Transcript, 64 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/2 |
Alford, Harriet Butner, 3 July 1975Original number: C-4205/2 |
Folder 2 |
Alford, Harriet Butner, 3 July 1975: Transcript, 36 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/3 |
Andrews, Berta Lloyd, July 1974Director of Carrboro cedar mill; owner of Fitch Lumber. Original number: C-4205/4 |
Folder 3 |
Andrews, Berta Lloyd, July 1974: Abstract |
Audiocassette C-4205/4 |
Berryhill, Walter Reece, 19 June 1974Dean of the Medical School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original number: C-4205/9 |
Folder 4 |
Berryhill, Walter Reece, 19 June 1974: Transcript, 33 pages; tape log; index of names |
Audiocassette C-4205/5 |
Bland, Lessie Bowden, 17 April 1974Original number: C-4205/11 |
Folder 5 |
Bland, Lessie Bowden, 17 April 1974: Transcript, 32 pages; tape log; notes |
Audiocassette C-4205/6 |
Campbell, Flossie Mann, 20 April 1974Original number: C-4205/16 |
Folder 6 |
Campbell, Flossie Mann, 20 April 1974: Transcript, 40 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/7 |
Campbell, James M., 11 September 1975Original number: C-4205/17 |
Folder 7 |
Campbell, James M., 11 September 1975: Transcript, 25 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/8 |
Cooke, Robert Bruce, Mrs., 24 May 1974; Myrtle Stanley, 7 June 1974Side A of this cassette contains the Mrs. Robert Bruce Cooke 24 May 1974 interview; side B of this cassette contains Myrtle Stanley 7 June 1974 interview. The Mrs. Robert Bruce Cooke interview has no transcript. Original number: C-4205/20; C-4205/93-2 Closed: Mrs. Robert Bruce Cooke interview closed due to no release form. |
Folder 23 |
Stanley, Myrtle, 7 June 1974: Transcript, 36 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/9 |
Fields, Leonard, 22 February 1974Original number: C-4205/28 |
Folder 9 |
Fields, Leonard, 22 February 1974: Transcript, 42 pages; tape log |
Audiocassette C-4205/10 |
Harding, J. Ralph, 17 December 1974Student at the University of North Carolina in the 1920s. Original number: C-4205/38 |
Folder 10 |
Harding, J. Ralph, 17 December 1974: Transcript, 38 pages |
Folder 11 |
Hill, Mabel, 7 April 1975: Transcript, 44 pagesThere is no audio available for this interview. |
Audiocassette C-4205/11 |
Howell, A. C., 23 December 1974; Ralph Weaver, 6 May 1975Side A of this cassette contains the A. C. Howell 23 December 1974 interview; side B of this cassette contains the Ralph Weaver 6 May 1975 interview. Original number: C-4205/46; C-4205/103 Closed: A. C. Howell interview closed due to no release form. |
Folder 12 |
Howell, A. C., 23 December 1974: Transcript, 24 pagesDiscusses life in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the 1920s. Material found on page 6 of the transcript may not be copied or quoted. |
Audiocassette C-4205/12 |
Johnson, Guy and Guion, February 1978Sociologists and former graduate students at the University of North Carolina. Original number: C-4205/49 Closed: Interview closed due to no release form. |
Folder 30 |
Johnson, Guy and Guion, February 1978: Transcript, 39 pagesClosed: Transcript closed due to no release form. |
Audiocassette C-4205/13 |
Lacock, Lula Johnson, 6 February 1975; Forrest Lacock, 6 February 1975Side A of this cassette contains the Lula Johnson Lacock 6 February 1975 interview; side B of this cassette contains the Forrest Lacock 6 February 1975 interview. Original number: C-4205/52; C-4205/51 |
Folder 13 |
Lacock, Forrest, 6 February 1975: Transcript, 35 pagesDiscusses race and housing in Chapel Hill, N.C. |
Folder 14 |
Lacock, Lula Johnson, 6 February 1975: Transcript, 39 pages |
Folder 15 |
McCallum, Christine Boone, 9 July 1975: Transcript, 42 pagesThere is no audio available for this interview. |
Audiocassette C-4205/14 |
Oldham, Wallace, 28 February 1978Original number: C-4205/70 |
Folder 16 |
Oldham, Wallace, 28 February 1978: Transcript, 18 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/15 |
Ray, Mallie, 5 August 1974Original number: C-4205/80 |
Folder 17 |
Ray, Mallie, 5 August 1974: Transcript, 25 pages; tape log; notes |
Audiocassette C-4205/16 |
Smith, Allie, 19 March 1974Original number: C-4205/88 |
Folder 18 |
Smith, Allie, 19 March 1974: Transcript, 27 pages; abstract |
Audiocassette C-4205/17 |
Smith, Mary Blackwood, 30 April 1974 and 5 May 1974Original number: C-4205/90 |
Folder 19 |
Smith, Mary Blackwood, 30 April 1974 and 5 May 1974: Transcript, 49 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/18 |
Smith, R. D., 23 February 1987Chapel Hill High School assistant [rincipal. Original number: C-4205/91 |
Folder 20 |
Smith, R. D., 23 February 1987: Transcript, 12 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/19 |
Stanley, Charles, 8 August 1975Original number: C-4205/92 |
Folder 21 |
Stanley, Charles, 8 August 1975: Transcript, 47 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/20 |
Stanley, Myrtle, 13 May 1974; George Elmore, 15 May 1974Side A of this cassette contains the Myrtle Stanley 13 May 1974 interview; side B of this cassette contains the George Elmore 15 May 1974 interview. Original number: C-4205/93-1; C-4205/26 |
Folder 22 |
Stanley, Myrtle, 13 May 1974: Transcript, 47 pages |
Folder 8 |
Elmore, George, 15 May 1974: Transcript, 29 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/21 |
Stanley, Myrtle, 7 June 1974; Julius Page, 11 June 1974Side A of this cassette contains the end of Myrtle Stanley's 7 June 1974 interview; side B of this cassette contains Julius Page 11 June 1974 interview. There is no transcript associated with either interview. Original number: C-4205/93-3; C-4205/71 |
Audiocassette C-4205/22 |
Thrift, J. Floyd, 10 May 1974Original number: C-4205/96-1 |
Folder 24 |
Thrift, J. Floyd, 10 May 1974: Transcript, 51 pages; family genealogy chart |
Audiocassette C-4205/23 |
Thrift, J. Floyd, 7 May 1975There is no transcript associated with this interview. Original number: C-4205/96-2 |
Audiocassette C-4205/24 |
Tripp, L. G., 13 August 1975Original number: C-4205/97 Closed: Interview closed due to no release form. |
Folder 31 |
Tripp, L. G., 13 August 1975: Transcript, 86 pagesClosed: Transcript closed due to no release form. |
Audiocassette C-4205/25 |
Walter, Carley, Mrs.Original number: C-4205/102 |
Folder 25 |
Walter, Carley. Mrs.: Transcript, 31 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/26 |
Weaver, Ralph, 6 May 1975There is no transcript associated with this interview. Original number: C-4205/103 Closed: Interview closed due to no release form. |
Audiocassette C-4205/27 |
West, Jesse, 2 August 1975Original number: C-4205/104 |
Folder 26 |
West, Jesse, 2 August 1975: Transcript, 40 pages |
Audiocassette C-4205/28 |
West, Ruth, 16 August 1975Original number: C-4205/105 No copying, quotation, or citation of this interview without permission from the interviewee. |
Folder 27 |
West, Ruth, 16 August 1975: Transcript, 53 pagesNo copying, quotation, or citation of this interview without permission from the interviewee. |
Audiocassette C-4205/29 |
Williams, Ben, 1 July 1974Mill supervisor. Original number: C-4205/107 |
Folder 28 |
Williams, Ben, 1 July 1974: Transcript, 56 pages; interview notesDiscusses the history of the different mills in Carrboro from 1909 through the 1940s; workers injured in the mills; attempts at unionization; denies health risks or bad conditions at mill. |
Audiocassette C-4205/30 |
Williams, Emma C., 1 August 1975Original number: C-4205/108 |
Folder 29 |
Williams, Emma C., 1 August 1975: Transcript, 60 pages; notes on family |
Audiocassette C-4205/31 |
Willis, Stuart, 1 April 1975; Mabel Hill, 7 April 1975Side A of this tape contains Stuart Willis 1 April 1975 interview. Side B contains Mabel Hill 7 April 1975 interview. There is no transcript for the Stuart Willis interview. Original number: C-4205/112 |