Herb Mabry oral history interview, October 11, 1995

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: MabryH_L1995-12_12

Staff Only

Herb Mabry oral history interview

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Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Christine Lutz: Mabry discusses life in Sandy Springs, Georgia during the 1930s and 1940s. His first union membership began with the Carpenters’ Union and the Labors’ League for Political Education (LLPE). He talks about local and national politics and influential men, including Ellis Arnall, Ralph McGill, Lester Maddox, Zell Miller, and former presidents Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Harry Truman, and Gerald Ford. Mabry also discusses membership in the AFL-CIO as a route to the Democratic National Committee. He explains methods of office seeking in the unions at the local level. Mabry has many personal affiliations which include: Muscular Dystrophy, National Leukemia, Georgia Trade Council, and King Center. Concerning his role as a well-known labor leader when much popular opinion indicates distrust of unions Mabry says, “…there is not a state that I go in that I do not know people in that state and know them well. I have never met a group of people that was any finer than they are in organized labor.” He also talks about race relations, Al Kehrer, religion, and his children.

Dates

Creation: October 11, 1995

Creator

Mabry, Herbert H., 1929-2011 (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Herb Mabry was born in 1929 in Roswell, Georgia. He studied labor law at the now defunct Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta. Mabry began his union career in 1950 as a member of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (Carpenters Union) Local 225 in Atlanta. He worked his way up through the ranks to become President of that Local in 1969. He was elected Secretary of the Georgia AFL-CIO at the 1970 convention in Augusta, Georgia. In May 1972, the Executive Board elected Mabry to fill the unexpired term of J. O. Moore. He was re-elected at each election until his retirement in 1999. Mabry also served as chair of the Board of Directors for the AFL-CIO Appalachian Council; Treasurer of the Southern Labor School; Member of the Board of Directors for the Southern States Apprenticeship Conference; and as President of the Southeastern Regional Council of Carpenters. He has also been an active member of the Democratic Party, serving as a member of the Fulton County Democratic Party, the State Democratic Committee and the Democratic National Committee.