Oral history interview with Tracy L. H. Burnett, November 15, 1994
Subtitle: interview K-0088, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Cowie, Jefferson, 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; Furniture workers; Employment; Furniture industry and trade; Plant shutdowns; Businesspeople; Quality control; White Furniture Company; Hickory White Company
Other titles: Interview K-0088, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Tracy L. H. Burnett, November 15, 1994; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Tracy L. H. Burnett started working at the White Furniture Company in the late 1980s, moving from building skids for shipping furniture, to finishing pieces, to inspection. In this interview, he offers a few thoughts on the factory's closing, which did not bother him since his ambitions were guiding him elsewhere. When the factory closed, Burnett took advantage of a training program and, using his new skills, ran an arcade and a video store before opening an insurance agency. The training program is one example of how the factory owners made the plant closing as smooth as possible. Burnett notes that they also gave workers six months' notice and seemed to have honest reasons for their decision. As opposed to others on the same subject, this interview offers a different approach to what many interviewees remember as a community tragedy.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on June 6, 2008).

Interview participants: Tracy L. H. Burnett, interviewee; Jeff Cowie, interviewer.

Duration: 00:58:34.

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. 128.9 kilobytes, 107 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0088, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Jackie Gorman. 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.