Labor History Commons^™

Interview No. 1578, Andy Imutan

Combined Interviews

Mr. Imutan very briefly describes his travels from the Philippines to California; he began working in Delano, California, but he quickly became involved with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); in September of 1965, he was part of a strike that was a continuation of earlier efforts in Coachella, California, to achieve better pay; events in Coachella turned violent, with people getting hurt and equipment being damaged; after demands were met in Coachella, the same companies refused the same wages in Delano, hence the continuing strike; within roughly a week, Cesar Chavez joined the strike; …

Interview No. 1577, Dolores Huerta

Combined Interviews

Ms. Huerta briefly talks about her parents and what her life was like growing up; as an adult, she began working with braceros as part of the Community Service Organization (CSO); she would often go to the bracero labor camps to help them when they were injured, which included obtaining doctors and/or lawyers when necessary; her mother owned a hotel at the time, where the braceros often stayed; she cared for them, giving them curfews and making sure they did not drink too much; she even invited them to local dances and encouraged them to get involved in the community; …

Interview No. 1575, Sally Gutierrez Mcquinn

Combined Interviews

Ms. Gutierrez briefly describes her childhood and family; in the early 1940s she was hired as a bookkeeper for an operational office in Gilroy, California; she was in charge of payroll for the braceros, and she saw firsthand that 10 percent was discounted from their salary; it was her understanding that there was an agreement between the United States and Mexico that the money would be mailed to Mexico so that the braceros would have it available to them when they returned; bracero complaints went through her, because she was the only one in the office; she recalls one instance …

Interview No. 1586, Fred Deyoung

Combined Interviews

Mr. DeYoung describes the work-a-day lives of Braceros on a lettuce harvesting crew; he defines “hoeing and thinning” and the difference between this type of work and “harvesting;” he details the process of harvesting lettuce and provides job descriptions for the multiple roles this process requires including, cutters, spreaders, clampers, stitches, wind rowers, and loaders; he lists the type of clothing items the workers would wear in the fields; he discusses the quality and type of food Braceros ate, as well as the conditions of the labor camps and barracks; Mr. DeYoung also describes the leisure and weekend activities of …

"Joined In The Battle Of Common Humanity": Irish Nationalism And Labor Organizing In Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1876-1883, Timothy Robert Donnelly

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The lrish-Catholic working-class of Scranton, Pennsylvania used social networks fanned in Irish nationalist organizations to expand the men's labor movement between 1879 and 1883. Formed in 1879, the Irish National Land League worked for land reform in Ireland and called on Irish-Americans to serve as fund-raisers for the cause. The Land League prospered in the Scranton area drawing into its ranks many Iiish-Americans that worked in the anthracite coal mines. The Knights of Labor, lend by Scranton native Terence V. Powderly, had established multiple local assemblies in the region, but had a difficult time recruiting hi sh-Catholic members. Leaders of …

The Failure Of Labor Management Cooperation At Two Maine Paper Mills: A Case Study,"Advances In Industrial And Labor Relations, Michael Hillard

Economics

Labor management cooperation, and the adoption of high-performance work systems (HPWS), are central topics in recent industrial relations research, with much emphasis given to “best-practice” success stories. This paper uses a case study analysis, relying on conventional, and oral history interviews, to explore why managers, union leaders, and workers in two Maine paper mills rejected the cooperation and the HPWS model. It explores how local history and culture, regional factors like the dramatic International Paper (IP) strike in Jay, Maine, instability in industry labor relations, management turnover, and instability in corporate governance contributed to these two mills’ rejection of Scott …

2005 Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Staff Congress.

Staff Congress Records

Staff Congress meeting minutes for 2005.

0737: George Gunnoe Papers, 1918-1943, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of photographs of Himlerville, the Himler Coal Company town, as well as scanned copies of photographs of 1937 and 1943 flood damage, and a survey book by George H. Gunnoe Jr. containing detailed surveys of Marshall College buildings by engineering students in 1937.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the George Gunnoe Papers, 1918-1943 here.

2004 Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Staff Congress.

Staff Congress Records

Staff Congress meeting minutes for 2004.

Interview No. 1585, Cecilia Concha Estela

Combined Interviews

Ms. Concha recalls what it was like growing up during the 1930s; her mother would shop in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in order to avoid the rationing of food; she recounts her memories of World War II, while she was a high school student at St. Joseph’s Academy from 1941 to 1945; in addition, she describes the discrimination immigrants in El Paso, Texas, faced; she also details her employment opportunities during and after the war; her grandfather, Trinidad Concha, served as an assistant director to Porfirio Diaz, before arriving in El Paso, in 1896; he formed a musical group that crossed …

Ms. Joanna Boley-Lee On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee.

Interviewee: Ms. Joanna Boley-Lee (age 66; born 1937 in Newark, New Jersey; lived in Maine for 8 ½ years)

“I think my closing reflections would be that when I came to Lewiston I remember walking across the bridge that goes across the Androscoggin, the extension of Main Street, just sort of looking out, and there was a black man with a camera and I thought, good, there's a black person. So I went up to him and I introduced myself, told him I was new in the area and he tells me he was visiting. I …

Mrs. Rose Jackson On Employment, Hamida Suja

Quotes

Mrs. Rose Jackson Full Interview

Rose Jackson was born in Louisville, Mississippi, to Willie O Clayton Hathorne and Bertha Ophelia (Young) Hathorne; she had three sisters and three brothers. She left school at fifteen to marry her first husband, with whom she had five children; after his death, she married John Jackson, with whom she had another daughter. She worked as a cleaner and hairdresser, and received her diploma from Portland High night school. At the time of this interview, she had been living in Maine 40 years; her family moved here because she had a brother-in-law who had been …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Education, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Reverend Albert Jackson and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson Full Interview

Rev. Albert Jackson was born in Slabfork, West Virginia, in 1942. At the time of this interview, he had been living in the Lewiston Auburn area for around forty three years. Clemmie Jackson, Rev. Jackson’s wife, was born in Marengo County, Alabama, in 1948; at the time of this interview, she had been living in Lewiston Auburn for around three years. The couple had three sons. Rev. Jackson graduated from high school in Lewiston Auburn; Mrs. Jackson graduated high school in Alabama, and received a degree in sociology with a minor …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Employment, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Reverend Albert Jackson and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson Full Interview

(Clemmie not pictured)

Rev. Albert Jackson was born in Slabfork, West Virginia, in 1942. At the time of this interview, he had been living in the Lewiston Auburn area for around forty three years. Clemmie Jackson, Rev. Jackson’s wife, was born in Marengo County, Alabama, in 1948; at the time of this interview, she had been living in Lewiston Auburn for around three years. The couple had three sons. Rev. Jackson graduated from high school in Lewiston Auburn; Mrs. Jackson graduated high school in Alabama, and received a degree in …

Reverend Albert Jackson And Mrs. Clemmie Jackson On Leisure, Maureen Elgersman Lee

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Maureen Elgersman Lee

Interviewees: Reverend Albert Jackson (born in Slabfork, Virginia; age 61; lived in Maine for 43 years) and Mrs. Clemmie Jackson (born March 1948 in Marengo County, Alabama; age 55; lived in Maine for 3.5 years)

“Well I like it. You know, I describe it as, ah, a place where you can shop. I notice when it rain, a lot of people go out to eat. They like to eat here in Maine. And I've noticed -- I've (inaudible) –but this is a good area to live in.”

Interviewer: “Are there any events in Lewiston and Auburn's …

Mr. James Sheppard On Leisure, Sanela Zukic

We Exist Series 4: Quotes

Interviewer: Sanela Zukic

Interviewee: Mr. James Sheppard (born in New York City in 1924; both his parents immigrated from Antigua in the West Indies to Canada, then they came to the United States in 1923; moved to Maine in 1971).

“But in addition to that we'd have lots of summer events: picnics and that sort. But that's separate; that's a different thing.”

“Between my wife and I, we saw to it that they did a lot of reading. And we did a lot of traveling. We did a lot of traveling to the Caribbean and South America, and we took …

Emma Jackson On Employment, Maureen Elgersman-Lee

Quotes

Emma Jackson Full Interview

Emma Jackson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1941. She and her husband John Isaac Jackson had three children, and at the time of the interview she had been living in the Lewiston-Auburn area for forty five years. She spent the first ten years of her life in Maine doing domestic work, and then worked in the nursing field for thirty years, at a number of different facilities owned by Central Maine Medical Center. She discusses her life in Lewiston, challenges in finding housing she and her husband faced when they first moved to the area, …

Interview No. 1572, John Tomlin

Combined Interviews

Mr. Tomlin recalls how his mother ran the farm after his father’s passing by using Italian and German POWs; in 1946, after finishing his tour of duty in the Army, he returned home and began attending New Mexico State University; the following year in 1947, he started running the farm on his own while he went to school; in 1948, he began hiring braceros; he used a crew of thirty men during the cotton harvest, which ran from mid September to the beginning of December; he had about six braceros who stayed on year-round driving tractors and irrigating; oftentimes, he …

Interview No. 1574, Raymundo Villa

Combined Interviews

Mr. Villa recalls his childhood growing up on a farm near Ysleta, Texas; he remembers that before the braceros were hired as workers, German POWs and the Tigua Indians would often pick cotton on the farm where he lived; when the braceros were contracted, he acted as an interpreter and aide because his boss could not speak Spanish and they could not speak English; oftentimes he had to help his father work on the farm, and he was unable to finish high school; he recalls picking cotton, the size of the sacks they would use, and how much they were …

Interview No. 1570, Sam Sanchez

Combined Interviews

Mr. Sanchez recalls his childhood and early adolescence; he would often work in the fields with his father picking cotton; during the early years of World War II, Italian POWs and undocumented workers often helped with the harvesting of the cotton as well; he recalls missing the first two or so months of school to help with the crops; in addition, he also recounts how he would often go to Rio Vista, a processing center for braceros in Socorro, Texas, to pick up food slops from the mess hall for his father’s pigs; later, when he graduated from high school, …

Interview No. 1571, Faye Terrazas

Combined Interviews

Ms. Terrazas recalls responding to an advertisement and being hired to work as a clerk and typist at Rio Vista, a bracero processing center in Socorro, Texas; she worked there seasonally during the spring and summer from 1954 to 1957; her primary responsibility was filling out the contracts for the braceros; she offers detailed descriptions of the facilities and the process for filling out the contracts; there were specific insurance specifications that detailed what the braceros were entitled to receive in the event of an injury or accident; her knowledge of the other screening procedures is somewhat limited; she gives …

Interview No. 1573, George Veytia

Combined Interviews

Mr. Veytia briefly recalls his family and childhood; he graduated from Texas Western in 1954, and shortly thereafter joined the Army, where he served until 1956; after being released from the Army, he came to work as a claims adjuster for an insurance company; his primary responsibility was to receive all the claims from the Bracero Program in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas; he describes his position with the company, the various types of policies that were applicable in different situations, their coverage, the company’s range of action, and the average number of insured braceros during a harvesting season; in …

Interview No. 1583, Julius Lowenberg

Combined Interviews

Mr. Lowenberg briefly describes his family; after graduating from high school, he worked for the South Pacific Railroad as a machinist apprentice; he later came to work for the Public Health Office at the Stanton Bridge in El Paso, and at Rio Vista, a bracero processing center in Socorro, Texas; despite the fact that he had little training, his primary duties involved taking x-rays of the braceros as they were coming into the United States; he describes what he did for each location, what a typical work day was like, and the medical examinations and the delousing process the braceros …

Technology And Learning By Factory Workers: The Stretch-Out At Lowell, 1842, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

In 1842 Lowell textile firms increased weaving productivity by assigning three looms per worker instead of two. This marked a turning point. Before, weavers at Lowell were temporary and mostly literate Yankee farm girls; afterwards, firms increasingly hired local residents, including illiterate and Irish workers. An important factor was on-the-job learning. Literate workers learned new technology faster, but local workers stayed longer. These changes were unprofitable before 1842, and the advantages of literacy declined over time. Firm policy and social institutions slowly changed to permit deeper human-capital investment and more productive implementation of technology

Interview No. 1657, Ismael Diaz De Leon

Combined Interviews

He recalls that before that he came 15 times as a bracero, that he only attended four years of school, and that first worked when he was 13 years old at a barber shop and then as a barber. He remembers that on another job he had in a hotel is where he learned about the Bracero Program since contractors stayed there, so he, friends, and other people he knew got hired. He describes the requirements for getting hired, that he went to the U.S. as a bracero between 1942 and 1944, mentions the contract centers he went to Irapuato …

Interview No. 1569, Inez Rios

Combined Interviews

Ms. Rios recalls her childhood and what it was like growing up on a farm near Ysleta, Texas, where her father was the foreman; she recalls that prior to the Bracero Program, there were a number of undocumented workers on the farm; they were often caught by immigration services and returned to México; sometime later, roughly in 1948, braceros were hired to work on the farm; they were contracted through Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; she recalls how the braceros were chosen and transported to the farm; in addition, she remembers what their living conditions were like, …

W. S. Miller Business Ledgers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

Spanning 1917-1959, this collection consists of twenty-four daybooks belonging to W. S. Miller, a merchant planter and cotton buyer from Rocky Ford, Georgia. Materials serve as the general store’s financial ledgers, including a detailed breakdown of the 1943 retail prices for several popular items.

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

2003 Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Staff Congress.

Staff Congress Records

Staff Congress meeting minutes for 2003.

The Life Cycle Of A Coal Town: Widen, West Virginia, 1911-1963, Amanda J. Griffith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Elk River Coal and Lumber Company and its president, Joseph Gardner Bradley, built the town of Widen located in Clay County, West Virginia. As coal production proved successful, the coal town rapidly grew and by 1950, Widen offered amenities such as a Y.M.C.A., theater, soda fountain, schools, and churches for the diverse composition of miners to enjoy. In 1952, a fifteen-month strike marked the climax of the history of Widen. The struggle between the local union, known as the League of Widen Miners, and the United Mine Workers of America, resulted in the destruction of company and private property, …

0720: Washington D.C. Aqueduct Construction Ledger, 1855, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of a copy of a 26 page construction ledger from 1855 created while the Washington Aqueduct was under construction. The ledger includes payroll records for bricklayers, masons, and others employed in the construction of the structure. Due to the copied nature of this item, legibility can be limited.