Relationship between mill owners and working communities
Lupton explains why he believes the mill bosses were typically supportive of the churches, especially Preacher Swinney's church. Specifically noting J. Spencer Love and his mills in Burlington, Lupton states that mill owners saw church attendance as beneficial to business. For similar reasons, Love had Lupton and other doctors come out to the mills to vaccinate workers for typhoid fever.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Carroll Lupton, April 2, 1980. Interview H-0028. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- MARY MURPHY:
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What was the mill management feeling on all this?
- CARROLL LUPTON:
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Well, the mill management were very appreciative of his work; the mill
management contributed very heavily, financially, to that church. They
built them Bynum organs, and things like that. They saw the value of
improvement in the attitude and well-being of their employees. In other
words, Monday morning'd come along, instead of a whole bunch of them
hanging, they'd been out on wild parties over the weekend, and drunk;
and some of them'd be in jail, and messing around, they were there at
work. The absenteeism dropped.
To the management, that church area in there was a great investment. I
never asked them for anything for the health programs, and stuff; and
they were willing, nothing financial on it, because we would get out and
go down to the mill area, and vaccinate everybody for typhoid fever.
That's part of our public relations, and we felt that what was sort of
our obligation. Now I'dvaccinate them for free.
Like we cleaned up, since I've been to Greensboro, we all took part, in
polio, for instance.
- MARY MURPHY:
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Would this be the community of doctors, just in the vicinity?
- CARROLL LUPTON:
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Yes, yes, yes. We still do that sort of thing. However, with our new
changes in the government, and Medicaid, and welfare, and all that sort
of stuff, a lot of times they set up these clinics, to get the Health
Department, and all, to do that stuff, which is very nice, too.
But . . . the mill management, see, Burlington has had some very
intelligent management. That's why it got to be the biggest textile
corporation in the world. I think they still are. Spencer Love was a
brilliant man, and he could see when it was to his advantage, and his
mills' advantage, for his people to have good breaks. So it really
didn't cost him anything, to be generous to the church. Just like when
we give something, we can label it a tax deduction, you know. So we're
being helped in it.