Oral history interview with Elizabeth Brooks, October 2, 1974
Subtitle: interview E-0058, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Jones, Beverly Washington, 1948-2020, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; African American women; Strikes and lockouts; Food industry and trade; Food service employees; Labor unions; Employees; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Black Student Movement; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Other titles: Interview E-0058, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Elizabeth Brooks, October 2, 1974; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Elizabeth Brooks discusses her role in the UNC Food Workers' Strike of 1969. Originally from Caswell County, Brooks had lived in Hillsborough since 1949. Prior to working for food services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Brooks spent her time raising nine children. The job at UNC was her first, and she had only recently started to work in Lenoir Dining Hall when the first stage of the strike began in February of 1969. Although she was a new employee, Brooks was one of the leaders of the strike. Here Brooks focuses on the workers' grievances regarding the unexpected firing of employees, low wages, unrealistic demands on workers' time, and withheld back pay. After failed negotiations with the administration, Brooks and some of the other workers organized the strike with the help of Preston Dobbins and the Black Student Movement at UNC. Within a month, the initial demands of the strikers had been met, but Brooks' interview ends by looking towards the beginning of the second strike that occurred after SAGA took over food services for the university.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on March 3, 2008).

Interview participants: Elizabeth Brooks, interviewee; Beverly Jones, interviewer.

Duration: 01:04:43.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 62.4 kilobytes, 118 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series E, labor, interview E-0058, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Pat Faherty. Original transcript: 26 p.

Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.