Southern Labor in Transition, 1940-1995

Book excerpt: A collection of original essays based on oral history and archival research, this volume illuminates diverse aspects of southern workers' experience in the modern era. Included here are essays on agricultural workers, teachers, and fire fighters, as well as pieces on air transport, paper manufacturing, and aircraft production. Other topics include workers' organizations that fall outside the traditional labor movement and the role of cotton textile workers in the recent history of southern labor relations. Themes involving race, the varieties of union representation, and labor's impact on southern politics are especially prominent throughout this collection.