Roles for women in the strike and at the labor schools
Vesta talks about the positions women were allowed to hold as a part of the strike and the sort of training they received at the various labor schools.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Vesta and Sam Finley, July 22, 1975. Interview H-0267. 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
What about the role of women in the union?
- VESTA FINLEY:
-
Well, they didn't have anything much to do except just holler and scream
around when they was on picket lines
[laughter]
. We girls that went to summer school, when they had their
meetings they wanted us all to come back and make a speech, and tell
what was happening in summer school, and somewhat what we'd learned and
all. Of course as I said, Miss McNutt over there taught economics, I
guess you'd call it; and we had drama and English, and math and gym . .
. and that's about it, you know.
- MARY FREDERICKSON:
-
You mentioned before some of the people who came to speak while you were
at the Summer School; you mentioned Frank Graham and. . . .
- VESTA FINLEY:
-
Frank Graham and Paul Green. He's a drama . . . he writes plays, doesn't
he? He was up there one time; he was just a young fellow. He came up
there with Frank. But boy, Frank Graham carried me away. That man used
words to express what he was saying and oh, it was wonderful to hear him
talk
[laughter]
. Well, you didn't hear him. But oh, that was an educated man
