Interviews

The Uprising of '34 Collection demonstrates how communities can be impacted in contemporary ways by history and memory, decades after a series of events occur. Veterans of the events of 1934 and their descendants-black, white, mill worker, manager, union, and non-union- were interviewed about mill village life, work conditions, southern contemporaneous culture as well as the strike itself. Consisting of oral history interviews, transcripts, archival and production footage, and supporting documentation, this collection examines a previously hidden or little-known legacy of the labor movement in the South and the impact of the knowledge, or lack of it, on today's workers. This documentary footage literally unlocks the past of 1934, as many interviewees shared memories that they had not even discussed with family members.

Although The Uprising of '34 can stand along as a unique window into a crucial period of southern labor-management and textile worker history, the supporting production materials will supply the researcher with an invaluable source of first-hand experience during this time. This footage captures memories that will soon disappear completely from the historical landscape.