Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2023/Fall/Section20/Three Workers of Cowikee Cotton Mill

Biographies

Lee Snipes

Lee Snipes started working as a weaver at the Cowikee Cotton Mill when she was a girl and had been working for thirty years at the time of the interview. Her husband also worked at the mill; she worked from six to two, and her husband from two to ten. She had four children; one was going to Auburn to play football and cornet. Snipes was proud to work for Donald Comer, the mill’s owner, as he did well with his workers. She believed Comer and Comer Jennings to be excellent bosses, as they gave the workers suitable accommodation and working conditions, which were nonexistent before they took ownership of the mill.

A typical Southern textile mill

B.T. Clements

B.T. Clements worked as a fireman at Cowikee while operating a small farm. He worked at the mill from six to two, then went home and worked with his four boys on the farm. All his children went to school, and his family raised everything they ate except flour. Although he and his wife had little education, Clements wanted to give his children the best education possible. He was incredibly thankful to the owners Comer and Jennings, and believed at the time of the interview that his family was incredibly happy.

Mrs. Champion

Mrs. Champion was an old lady who worked as a weaver on Cowikee. All but one of her children were married, and her husband died three years before the interview due to alcoholism. Her son and Comer helped take care of her needs. She did not have much money, but she tried to give whatever she had to those who were poor and could not work. Mrs. Champion sometimes felt lonely, attending church on Sunday mornings and hearing the band play on Sunday afternoons for pleasure.

Social Context

Education During the Depression Era

A typical classroom in the Depression South

Education suffered during the Great Depression. Families were out of work and unable to feed their children, making attending school arduous. Lower-middle-class public schools suffered the most from lack of funding, and students were crammed into classrooms due to a lack of teachers. Teachers who could would sacrifice part of their salaries to give children clothes and food so they could continue attending class. The Dust Bowl also prevented many rural children from attending school during the Depression. Children from farming families had to stay home to help keep the family afloat. Sometimes, children left the farm to find non-agricultural jobs to support the family. Children of tenant farmers suffered even more, as their schooling would be interrupted whenever their parents had to move to find work and housing. Despite this, because youth employment was hard to find during the Depression, more children had the incentive to finish their schooling. The 1930s was also a vibrant time for literature, with famous books published by authors such as Dr. Seuss, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway.

Southern Textile Mills

The textile industry was a significant economic force in the southern United States after the American Civil War. A region known as the Piedmont, which stretched from Southern Virginia through the Carolinas into Georgia and Alabama, was the primary hub of the textile industry. By the 1920s, the Piedmont had become the world's largest producer of yarn and cloth, overtaking New England. These mill villages throughout the South would resemble small towns, and many of the workers in southern textile mills were known to be isolated from the rest of the world, unable to relate to the experiences of those outside. However, the textile mills of the south also fostered tight-knit communities among its workers, focusing on family ties and friendship. Children of the first generation of workers would often grow up to marry newcomers from successive generations, creating familial networks. Marriages would regularly grow from a friendship formed while working at the mill.

Textile mills in Alabama fared much better economically than most other businesses during the Great Depression. Mills did not have to cut as many workers as other businesses, which helped the families of those on the mills while keeping operations running. However, the situation was not perfect for textile workers, as some owners attempted to cut wages to save on costs. These owners also did not provide proper facilities for workers, and frustrations arose. In 1934, workers from thirty textile mills in Alabama went on strike due to the attempts of their employers to lower their pay.

Family Life

The economic hardships of the Great Depression caused many families to break down. Marriages were strained; however, most could not afford to divorce. Men began to leave their families out of the embarrassment and frustration of being unable to provide adequately for them due to the high unemployment rate and low wages. The national suicide rate reached an all-time high in 1933, with individuals and families unable to find ways to escape poverty. The challenging financial times caused widespread psychological strain on the American populace. Even upper-middle-class workers such as doctors and lawyers found their pay reduced by forty percent.

Households took on frugal lifestyles, as many families sacrificed forms of entertainment, such as the movies, to save money. Homemakers began to cook one-pot meals such as chili to save on the food budget. Families turned to board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly, or listened to the radio as cheaper, alternative forms of entertainment.

This time period also saw a record number of married women going to work, having to do so to support the family. Married women were often criticized for taking jobs since many men were still out of work. Usually, women would work jobs such as clerks, secretaries, teachers, telephone operators, and nurses, which were not considered jobs for men. However, women were paid significantly less than men.

References:

Barrera, Sergio Ernesto. "Alabama and The Great Depression." Honors Thesis, University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/612545

Delano, Jack, photographer. Overcrowded School Room in Fayetteville, North Carolina. United States Fayetteville North Carolina Cumberland County, 1941. Mar. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017793784/.

Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd, Robert Korstad, and James Leloudis. "Cotton Mill People: Work, Community, and Protest in the Textile South, 1880-1940." The American Historical Review 91, no. 2 (1986): 245–86. https://doi.org/10.2307/1858134.

Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd, James L. Leloudis, Robert R. Korstad, Mary Murphy, and Lu Ann Jones. Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World. University of North Carolina Press, 1987.

Konkel, Lindsey. "Life for the Average Family During the Great Depression." History.com, April 19, 2018. https://www.history.com/news/life-for-the-average-family-during-the-great-depression.

Koning, Lydia. "Education in the 1930's." Medium, December 9, 2015. https://medium.com/the-thirties/education-in-the-1930-s-bc0e4b94fb2d.

"The Armon Mill Total Loss; Not A Brick Now Marks Spot." The Charlotte Observer. July 19, 1916: 6.

“Three Workers of Cowikee Cotton Mill” Interview by Gertha Couric, dated October 13, 1938, Folder 10, Federal Writers’ Project Papers #3709, Southern Historical Collection, the Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tyack, David B., Robert Lowe, and Elizabeth Hansot. Public Schools in Hard Times: The Great Depression and Recent Years. Harvard University Press, 1984.