Gastonia (N.C.)

Waffle discusses the way in which Hill's diaries of her working life are of value to the museum. Hill reads from her diaries and discusses her working life at Loray Mills, the Rex Mill, the Adrian Mill, and the Eagle Mill.

The first twenty-six minutes of this video is a continuation of the Eagle Mill Reunion. There is no audio for the entirety of this segment (up to 00:26:43). In the latter half of this video, Moses and Stoney talk about the making of the film on-air and take calls from listeners who may have been involved in the 1934 strike.

Moore discusses efforts made by the Communist Party to organize in the South. The Loray Mill strike of 1929 is described by Moore, including the murder of Orville Aderholt, police chief of Gastonia, N.C. Moore talks about the end of the American Textile Union in the aftermath of the '29 strike and subsequent murder trials and increased distrust of unions. The interview is supplemented with information from E.W. "Bob" Passmore.

Moore talks about what the mill village and the surrounding business used to look like, a Labor Day parade in Gastonia on the first day of the strike, and strikers' activities.

Passmore and Ernest Moore discuss the pros and cons of unionization. Ernest Moore and Ruby Moore show George Stoney, Jamie Stoney, and Judith Helfand around Gastonia, N.C.

The beginning of this interview is a discussion with the larger Gardin family. Then Gardin and Wilson show George Stoney and the film crew around the area near St. Helen's. During this they discuss their childhoods, and working in various textile mills. There is a second interview with an unidentified couple on this tape that is all audio and no video. This interview discusses the organizing at some of the local mills, like the Loray, Rex Mill and Priscilla Mill as well as other topics.

Thornburgh discusses the National Recovery Act (NRA), her organizing work at Cherokee Mills, the impact of the Wagner Act, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 1929 strike at Loray Mills in Gastonia, N.C., and blacklisting. The last 10 minutes of the video consist of shots of various mills around Knoxville.

Griggs discusses the Loray Mill Strike, which occurred in 1929, growing up in a mill village, the paternalism of the mill village, standing up to the textile companies and other topics.

Moses uses his radio show to help Stoney reach out to and find textile workers from the Loray Mill, particularly African American workers. Moore drives Stoney and his crew around the area around the Loray Mill and discusses things such as the Labor Day parades and the businesses that were previously in the area. Passmore shows the filmmakers and Ernest Moore around the Firestone Mill, which was previously called the Loray Mill at the time of the General Textile Strike of 1934.

Moses and Stoney talk about the making of the film on-air and take calls from listeners who may have been involved in the 1934 strike.

Moses and Stoney talk about the making of the film on-air and take calls from listeners who may have been involved in the 1934 strike.

Ragan discusses the textile workers' strike of 1934, his father's reaction to it, and the impact that it had on unionization in the South.