Oral history interview with Gordon Berkstresser, III, April 29, 1986
Subtitle: interview H-0263, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Raub, Patricia, 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; College teachers; Faculty; Executives; Textile industry; History; Textile research; Women textile workers; African Americans; Employment; Government policy; International trade; North Carolina State University. Department of Textile and Apparel Management; North Carolina State University
Other titles: Interview H-0263, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Gordon Berkstresser, III, April 29, 1986; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: This interview is a manual on the past, present, and future of the textile industry in the American South. Gordon Berkstresser III moved from management positions in the textiles into academia, where he studies the industry. In this detailed, dense interview, Berkstresser describes some of the changes that have taken place in American textiles over the course of the 20th century and how industry leaders have responded to those changes. He sees the textile industry as dynamic, both technologically and methodologically, but also sees it in a state of crisis, threatened by imports, a weak political position, and calcified ideas. Berkstresser describes complex political and business arrangements with clarity, making this interview a useful, detailed source for information about the textile industry.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on May 29, 2008).

Interview participants: Gordon Berkstresser, III, interviewee; Patricia Raub, interviewer.

Duration: 01:16:11.

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. 98.7 kilobytes, 139 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series H, Piedmont industrialization, interview H-0263, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Patricia Raub. Original transcript: 35 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.