Oral history interview with J.D. Thomas and Lela Rigsby Thomas, November 14, 2000
Subtitle: interview K-0507, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Amberg, Rob, interviewer; Thomas, Lela Rigsby, 1932?- interviewee; 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; Blue collar workers; Textile workers; Social life and customs; Economic conditions; Cities and towns; Growth; Country life; Farm life; Population; Social aspects
Other titles: Interview K-0507, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with J. D. Thomas and Lela Rigsby Thomas, November 14, 2000; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: J. D Thomas and his wife, Lela Rigsby Thomas, grew up on Sprinkle Creek in upper Madison County, North Carolina, and made their lifelong home not far from where they spent their childhoods. In this interview, they discuss the many changes that have come to Madison County since the early 1900s, remembering unpaved roads and reading by oil lamp, iceboxes and wooden sidewalks. Farmers, laborers, and textile workers formed a closely-knit community that bonded over decorating graves at their cemetery, or building barns together. But growth and immigration, speeded by road improvements and new highways that cut through Madison County, have changed the Thomases' community. They share their perspectives on these changes in this interview: Lela reveals a strong emotional connection to the area and frustration over the extent of its change and the number of new arrivals, although she is optimistic for the future. J.D., a self-described "old-timer," is resigned to his area's transformation and happy for the opportunity he hopes it brings to young people. This interview offers a portrait of change in people and in the natural environment, and a look at how one community has weathered the pressures of modernization.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 18, 2008).

Interview participants: J.D. Thomas, interviewee; Lela Rigsby Thomas, interviewee; Rob Amberg, interviewer.

Duration: 01:34:00.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill 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. 212 kilobytes, 172 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0507, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Sarah Schuckman. Original transcript: 57 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.