Documenting the American South Logo
Excerpt from Oral History Interview with Vesta and Sam Finley, July 22, 1975. Interview H-0267. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) See Entire Interview >>

End of the union and the economic divisions within Marion, North Carolina

Shortly after the strike ended, the union fell apart. The Finleys explain why they never joined other local organizations like the Masons.

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

MARY FREDERICKSON:
How long did the union stay around after 1929?
VESTA FINLEY:
Well, they were here in the early thirties, because it was in '30, in January, when I was in New York. It was in the early thirties when it was all disbanded.
SAM FINLEY:
Yes.
MARY FREDERICKSON:
What happened? What was the final decision that made it disband?
SAM FINLEY:
Well, they decided we don't have any union any longer, but we'll try to figure so we can get you a job. They did that. And they just kind of phased it out, so people went other places and got jobs.
MARY FREDERICKSON:
Like Roy Price, who left?
SAM FINLEY:
Like Roy Price, and different ones.
MARY FREDERICKSON:
Were you really in the minority because you stayed?
SAM FINLEY:
One of them; there were several stayed here. But I was about to work somewhere else, but at that time you couldn't hardly get a job.
MARY FREDERICKSON:
After the union was disbanded, were there ever any other organizations that you belonged to that tried to do the same sort of thing as the union?
SAM FINLEY:
No, I never did join up no more [laughter]
MARY FREDERICKSON:
What about any other groups or organizations other than the church that you were involved with, like the Masons or the. . . .
SAM FINLEY:
Well, I didn't ever get involved with the Masons. I've been . You name it and I've been there [laughter]
VESTA FINLEY:
I don't know about the Masons and that. Were they opposed to the union?
SAM FINLEY:
I don't think so. They didn't take no part in it, the Masons.
MARY FREDERICKSON:
Who belongs to the Masons?
SAM FINLEY:
Well, it's a think that you've got to get worked up into. You can't just go and say, "I want to join." Somebody's got to take you on in it.
MARY FREDERICKSON:
What people in town belong?
SAM FINLEY:
Some of the store keepers and owners?
MARY FREDERICKSON:
Is it mostly uptown people?
VESTA FINLEY:
Businessmen.
VESTA FINLEY:
Finley and Sam Finley: Uptown people.
SAM FINLEY:
Finley and Sam Finley: Uptown people.