Oral history interview with Johnnie Jones, August 27, 1976
Subtitle: interview H-0273, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Glass, Brent D., 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; Terra-cotta industry; Employees; African Americans; Social life and customs; Accidents; Labor unions; Pomona Terra Cotta Company
Other titles: Interview H-0273, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Johnnie Jones, August 27, 1976; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Johnnie Jones started working at the Pomona Terracotta Factory in Greensboro, NC, when he was fourteen, doing odd jobs despite the objections of his father, an employee there. Jones spent his career in the factory, applying his keen mechanical mind to making sewer pipes and performing maintenance. In this interview, Jones describes some of his experiences at the factory, including some of the details of his tasks, workplace accidents, the arrival of unions, and his relationships with his fellow employees. Jones is an interesting character with a great deal of confidence in his problem-solving ability, but this interview is not particularly rich. Researchers may, however, find useful material in his description of the terracotta production process and the portrait Jones paints of himself.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on June 5, 2008).

Interview participants: Johnnie Jones, interviewee; Brent Glass, interviewer.

Duration: 01:41:01.

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. 276.5 kilobytes, 185 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series H, Piedmont industrialization, interview H-0273, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Patricia Crowley. Original transcript: 67 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.