Oral History Interview with Louise Rigsbee Jones, September 20, 1976 Interview H-0085-1. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Summary: Louise Riggsbee Jones was born in Bynum, North Carolina, in 1897. In the first interview of a two-part series, Jones describes growing up in that cotton mill town during the early twentieth century. Jones' father worked as a cobbler during the day and occasionally worked as a night guard at the local grist mill. He died when Jones was only six years old. Jones, the youngest of six children, describes her close relationship with her mother, who did not remarry after her husband's death. Because several of Jones' older siblings had already begun to work in the mills, the family managed to survive financially. Her mother's garden and livestock supplemented their income. In addition to describing household economy, Jones discusses the role of religion in the community, her experiences in school, her work as a spinner in the cotton mill, and the different ways in which people received medical care in this small mill community.

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