Rosie the Riveter Revisited
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/206720
2024-03-28T22:22:10ZHunter, Vera (audio interview #3 of 3)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/221328
Hunter, Vera (audio interview #3 of 3)
Hunter, Vera (b. 10/1/1903 - d. 12/24/1999); Fischer, Jan, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the final interview with Vera Hunter, conducted in the living room of the small tract house in Lakewood, which she shares with her daughter. Although she was more relaxed by this interview and spoke her mind plainly, the interviewer continued to feel that her rapport was somewhat tenuous.
6/28/1980
SUBJECT BIO - Vera Hunter was working as a chambermaid and janitor in Port Hueneme before getting a job as an assembler at Lockheed Aircraft. The last of eight children, born in Colorado, Hunter was raised by her paternal grandparents following here father's death while she was still an infant. She married when she was nineteen, and worked outside the home intermittently, doing occasional day work as a domestic. She and her husband moved to California during the Depression. Hunter retuned to full-time homemaking when she was laid off after the war, and then worked at various jobs, until 1951, when she returned to Lockheed, working there until she retired in 1971. Three interviews were conducted with Hunter in the living room of the small suburban tract home, where she lives with her daughter. Hunter was often distant at the beginning of an interviews, though at other times she was more relaxed and spoke her mind plainly.
TOPICS - daily routine; men's attitudes towards women at Lockheed; impact of war work on her life; work injuries; work clothing; safety features; riveting and bucking equipment; VJ-Day celebrations; postwar layoffs; postwarcost plus contracts; postwar layoffs; domesticity; husband; postwar work history; reapplication to Lockheed in 1949-50; application at North American; recall to Lockheed; production in 1951; women in 1950s Lockheexpectations for women in production in the postwar years; attitude towards lifting restrictions for women; postwar work force demographics; second husband and his health problems; marital relationship; social life
2021-08-23T00:00:00ZHunter, Vera (audio interview #2 of 3)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/221327
Hunter, Vera (audio interview #2 of 3)
Hunter, Vera (b. 10/1/1903 - d. 12/24/1999); Fischer, Jan, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the second of three interviews with Vera Hunter, conducted in the living room of the small tract house in Lakewood, which she shares with her daughter. Although she relaxed more once the interview got going, the interviewer felt that her rapport was somewhat tenuous. The audio quality on side a is initially poor, but improves as the tape progresses.
6/14/1980
SUBJECT BIO - Vera Hunter was working as a chambermaid and janitor in Port Hueneme before getting a job as an assembler at Lockheed Aircraft. The last of eight children, born in Colorado, Hunter was raised by her paternal grandparents following here father's death while she was still an infant. She married when she was nineteen, and worked outside the home intermittently, doing occasional day work as a domestic. She and her husband moved to California during the Depression. Hunter retuned to full-time homemaking when she was laid off after the war, and then worked at various jobs, until 1951, when she returned to Lockheed, working there until she retired in 1971. Three interviews were conducted with Hunter in the living room of the small suburban tract home, where she lives with her daughter. Hunter was often distant at the beginning of an interviews, though at other times she was more relaxed and spoke her mind plainly.
TOPICS - husband's work accident; reasons for going to work at Lockheed; publicity for defense jobs; hiring process; training school; experience with tools; first day on the job; work responsibilities; attitude towards workdescription of plant; lighting in the plant; production jobs; job responsibilities; labor demographics; job performance of her co-workers; attitude towards working with women and with minorities; company rules;husband; marital relationship; IAM; transportation; company services; managing household responsibilities during war years; Women's Counselors; company newspaper; social life; recreational activities and social eve
2021-08-23T00:00:00ZHunter, Vera (audio interview #1 of 3)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/221326
Hunter, Vera (audio interview #1 of 3)
Hunter, Vera (b. 10/1/1903 - d.12/24/1999); Fischer, Jan, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews with Vera Hunter, conducted in the living room of the small tract house in Lakewood, which she shares with her daughter. Hunter was somewhat distant in the beginning of the interview, but did eventually relax. The audio quality on side b is poor.
5/17/1980
SUBJECT BIO - Vera Hunter was working as a chambermaid and janitor in Port Hueneme before getting a job as an assembler at Lockheed Aircraft. The last of eight children, born in Colorado, Hunter was raised by her paternal grandparents following here father's death while she was still an infant. She married when she was nineteen, and worked outside the home intermittently, doing occasional day work as a domestic. She and her husband moved to California during the Depression. Hunter retuned to full-time homemaking when she was laid off after the war, and then worked at various jobs, until 1951, when she returned to Lockheed, working there until she retired in 1971. Three interviews were conducted with Hunter in the living room of the small suburban tract home, where she lives with her daughter. Hunter was often distant at the beginning of an interviews, though at other times she was more relaxed and spoke her mind plainly.
TOPICS - family background and history; schooling; living arrangements; siblings; father's death; mother's work history; move to La Junta, Colorado; family life; social activities; farm life; move to Creston, Iowa; farm rliving arrangements in Creston, Iowa; housing; mother; household and farm chores; menstruation; schooling; future expectations; social activities; childhood activities; Normal school; and husband; Note: the audiohusband's work history; religion; WWI influenza epidemic; hospitalization during second pregnancy; housing and living arrangements; husband; marital relationship; pregnancies and children; life during the Depressioearly work experiences; husband's attitude towards her working outside the home; applying for work at Lockheed; attitude about going to work; wages; work clothing; and daughter;
2021-08-23T00:00:00ZDrake, Videll (audio interview #3 of 3)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/221324
Drake, Videll (audio interview #3 of 3)
Drake, Videll (b. 1/11/1912 - d. 7/25/1995); Fischer, Jan, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the final interview with Videll Drake conducted, as usual, at a small table in the dining area of her one story home in South Central Los Angeles. Because of her health problems and a prolonged trip to Texas, this interview was conducted some six months after the first two. Despite this hiatus, Drake remained interested in the project and made copies of her personnel records for the project.
5/21/1981
SUBJECT BIO - Videll Drake, had been working as a live-in domestic in Los Angeles when jobs at North American opened up for Black women. Born in Dallas, Texas, Drake began picking cotton when she was only ten years old. She married in 1928, when she was only sixteen, and became the mother of two before she was eighteen. After the birth of her second child, she went to work as a domestic in Dallas. When she came to Los Angeles in 1942 seeking better opportunities, she left her children with her family in Texas. After a one year layoff from North American, Drake returned to work there in 1946 and remained until her retirement in 1979. The job at North American had ill effects on her health, however. Exposed to an assortment of dangerous chemicals and injuries on the job, she suffered from several health problem, leading her to emphasize the unsafe working conditions. The interviews with Drake were conducted at a small table in the dining area of her one story home in South Central Los Angeles. Because of ill health, she tired easily, but remained quite fiery during the course of the interviews. She tended to jump from one time period to another - a common pattern among the women who returned to a long work history in aircraft production. Because of health problems and her prolonged visit to Texas, the interviews stretched out over a period of several months. She remained engaged and interested in the project, however, even though it was a physical strain for her. She speaks in what she referred to as a "Texified" way and, indeed, it is difficult to understand her dialect at times.
TOPICS - postwar layoffs; job responsibilities; working conditions and hazardous materials; unionism; job-related health problems; housing and living conditions; and husbands and marital relationships;husband and marital relationship; working conditions; job responsibilities; housing and living conditions; birth control; and children;job responsibilities; working conditions and hazardous materials; work-related health problems; marital relationship and husband; children; family history;job responsibilities at Crenshaw plant; job discrimination; working conditions grievance; training and operation crane at main plant; working in tool crib at main plant; work injury; hours; attitude towards retiremdaughter; attitudes towards abortion and equal pay; working conditions and hazardous materials; job-related health problems; racial discrimination; wage discrimination; retirement; life reflections; future plans;wage discrimination; racial discrimination; and working conditions; Note: this tape is only two minutes in length;
2021-08-23T00:00:00Z