Oral history interview with David R. Hayworth, February 6, 1997
Subtitle: interview I-0099, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Darr, Dorothy, 1946- 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; Businessmen; Furniture industry and trade; Employees; Office furniture industry; History; Open plan (Building); Hayworth Roll and Panel; Mayview Manor (Blowing Rock, N.C.)
Other titles: Interview I-0099, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with David R. Hayworth, February 6, 1997; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: David R. Hayworth's father started Hayworth Roll and Panel--"the first and oldest plywood company in North Carolina"--with his two brothers, creating what would become a nationally competitive office furniture company and a thriving family business. Hayworth's mother took over the High Point, North Carolina, company after her husband's death, eventually leaving control to her sons. In this interview, Hayworth recounts some of this family history, and chronicles some of the changes that have taken place in the furniture industry since the 1950s. These changes include the rise of major manufacturers who pushed out smaller companies with their ability to maintain dealerships around the country, as well as the advent of the open-office system, the now familiar office layout that relies on partitions to separate workers. Hayworth Roll and Panel weathered these changes, and David R. Hayworth describes them, as well as the personalities who guided the company through difficult times. This interview will be of particular interest to researchers concerned with the intricacies of the furniture manufacturing industry.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on May 6, 2008).

Interview participants: David R. Hayworth, interviewee; Dorothy Gay Darr, interviewer.

Duration: 01:44:53.

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. 158 kilobytes, 353 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series I, Business history, interview I-0099, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 47 p.

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

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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