Oral history interview with George F. Dugger, Sr., August 9, 1979
Subtitle: interview H-0312, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd, 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: 2007
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Labor lawyers; Textile workers; Labor unions; Strikes and lockouts; Textile industry; Labor leaders; Violence against
Other titles: Interview H-0312, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with George F. Dugger, Sr., August 9, 1979; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: George F. Dugger, Sr., had practiced law in Elizabethton, TN, for fifty-five years at the time of this interview. After detailing his family history, he describes his involvement in the dispute over unionization at the Elizabethton rayon plant. As the plant's lawyer, he worked both for and against unionization. In 1936, he helped smooth unionization at the plant, protecting a union leader's identity. But during a 1929 strike he worked with mill management to return strikers to their jobs. Most of this interview focuses on that strike, which turned violent as strikers attacked Dugger, the police attacked strikers, and Elizabethton citizens assaulted at least one union leader. This interview provides a useful, if sometimes difficult to interpret, account of the 1929 Elizabethton rayon plant strike and will be of interest to any researcher concerned with this incident.  Dugger has a remarkable family history. Researchers interested in learning about five generations of the Dugger family, stretching back 239 years, should read the first few pages of this interview.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on May 8, 2008).

Interview participants: George F. Dugger, Sr., interviewee; Jacquelyn Hall, interviewer.

Duration: 01:27:39.

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 Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 97 kilobytes, 106.5 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series H, Piedmont industrialization, interview H-0312, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Jean Houston. Original transcript: 26 p.

Funding from the Institute of 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.