Interviewer
Nancy Biggs Thomas Wofford
Files
Download Interview (22.4 MB)
Download Interview Index - Amelia Potts, Janie Crocker, and Myrtle Starnes Interview (1.1 MB)
Download Amelia Knight Potts Biography by Nancy Thomas Wofford (1984) (783 KB)
Download Janie Phillips Crocker Biography by Nancy Thomas Wofford (1984) (189 KB)
Download Myrtle Chapman Starnes Biography by Nancy Thomas Wofford (1984) (312 KB)
Abstract
This interview with Amelia Knight Potts, Janie Philips Crocker, and Myrtle Chapman Starnes was conducted by Nancy Thomas Wofford for her 1984 Winthrop thesis titled, Fort Mill: Transition From A Farming To A Textile Community, 1880-1920. Subjects include Fort Mill Manufacturing Co., Ivey’s Mill in Fort Mill, Springs Industries, Catawba Power Company. The Evolution of the Early Cotton Textile Mills in York County, SC.
Amelia Knight Potts (1890-1984) worked for one of the original mills in Lancaster, SC beginning in 1902 at 12 years old. Her family were mostly famers from the Lancaster area. She talks about her early childhood days in Lancaster, cotton farming, memories of Mr. Leroy Springs, and Life in the Mill Village.
Janie Phillips Crocker (1910-1996) worked with Myrtle Starnes in the weave room at the Fort Mill Manufacturing Company. She discusses her experiences in the weave room, living in the Mill village, and s blow pipe incident that killed an employee in 1929.
Myrtle Chapman Starnes (1904-1999) worked with Janie Crocker in the weave room at the Fort Mill Manufacturing Company. She talks about Fort Mills’ population, Mr. Leroy Springs, migration of northern workers, the 1916 flood that devastated the area, the old mill that washed away, camp meetings at Oak Grove Arbor, and her mother who also worked at the mill.
Publication Date
2-10-1982
Unique Identifier
OH 370
Format
2 Cassettes; MP3; WAV;
Length
00:24:26
Restrictions
This interview is open for use.
Disciplines
Oral History
Keywords
York County Cotton Mill Workers
Recommended Citation
Potts, Amelia Knight; Crocker, Janie Phillips; Starnes, Myrtle Chapman; Fort Mill Manufacturing Company; Springs Industries; and Wofford, Nancy Biggs Thomas, "Interview with Amelia Potts, Janie Crocker, and Myrtle Starnes" (1982). Winthrop University Oral History Program. OH 370.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/oralhistoryprogram/526
LC Subject Headings
Textile workers -- South Carolina -- York County, Textile workers -- Social life and customs, Textile industry -- South Carolina -- York County
