Oral History Interview with Vickie Jacobs, December 11, 1993. Interview K-0100. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
Vickie Jacobs left a dead-end job at a barbecue restaurant to take a position at the White Furniture Company in Hillsborough, North Carolina. In this interview, she describes her work there and at another White factory in Mebane, North Carolina, recalling the positions she held, explaining the routines on the factory floor, and describing the furniture production process. Jacobs enjoyed working in the rub-and-pack room of the factory, polishing furniture and preparing it for shipping, but her most vivid memory is of the Hillsborough factory's closing, a recollection that offers a tantalizing glimpse of a closely knit community of workers.
Excerpts
Occupational hazards at a furniture factory
Rules at the White Furniture Factory
Some race and gender discrimination at a furniture factory
Concerns follow factory closing
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Subjects
Furniture industry and trade--North Carolina
Furniture workers--North Carolina
White Furniture Company
North Carolina--Social conditions
Women--Employment--North Carolina--History--20th century
Jacobs, Vickie
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