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Hunter, Vera (audio interview #2 of 3)
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
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- 2021-08-23
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- 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
- *** File: rrrvhunter5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:11-2:55)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Hunter provides a chronology of her activities before she went to work at Lockheed in 1943. She describes the train accident her husband was involved in that resulted in him losing his shoulder and his arm. (2:55-4:52)... Note: the audio quality is fair in this segment. Advertisements for job opportunities at Lockheed were everywhere and "everyone talked about it." In 1942, Hunter inquired at Lockheed, but decided not to apply for a job when she found out they were only hiring women for office work. Her husband did not want her to work, but "he made me real mad one day and I just went out and got a job one day and went to work the next." She was hired at Lockheed in April 1943. (4:52-5:14)... Hunter was living on Figueroa in Los Angeles when she got her job at Locheed. They were living in an apartment and then moved to a little cottage. They bought their home in 1944 when her husband lost his arm. (5:14-6:14)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. After Hunter and her husband returned to Los Angeles from Port Hueneme, they moved into an apartment. When she applied for work at Lockheed in 1943, they were living in a cottage located on North Figueroa in Los Angeles. They purchased their first home in 1944 after her husband received a settlement from the railroad for his injury. (6:14-9:31)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. Hunter rode a bus to Lockheed when she first applied for a position. When she got to the plant, there was a line of men and women waiting to fill out applications. After she filled out an application, she was interviewed and given a physical examination. She expected it would be a couple of weeks before she was called to work, during which time she wanted to clean her house and prepare for her new job. However, she was hired on the spot and told to report to work the next day. She went to training school before she went to work in the plant. A girlfriend, who also was hired at Lockheed at the same time, drove Hunter to school. (9:31-10:10)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. When Hunter applied at Lockheed, her daughter was about twenty years old and working in civil service at McClellan Field. (10:10-14:17)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is fair. During her interview, she was not asked if she had any experience with tools or mechanical devices. Lockheed did not have an established hiring criteria because they also hired disabled people. While in training, people like her who adapted easily to the tools were placed on the assembly line while those with less aptitude were placed in non-production areas like the tool crib. Some people were fired while in school because they could not do the work properly. Hunter began working with tools when she was six years old, so she was not nervous about being introduced to other types of tools and mechanical devices. She learned how to operate a rivet gun very quickly. (14:17-19:14)... The Lockheed training school was located in a Japanese school that was closed during the Japanese internment. Hunter believes that the school was located on Magnolia in Burbank. She went to the training school for about six to eight weeks, during which time she learned how to rivet, buck, drill, and read layouts. She describes her tasks while performing these skills. They received a five-cent every week they were in training. (19:14-21:39)... Hunter describes her first day at the plant. She was assigned to work with two women, stating, "I didn't like to work with women." Her responsibilities involved placing aluminum "shrouds" over air ducts which required that she work with her arms in the air. When her hands started to go numb she requested a transfer and was sent to work on the center section of the P-38. Her responsibilities involved riveting corrugated sheets into the beams. After production in this section was phased out, she was sent to work on the tanks for P-38s, during which she learned how to drill on the jig and shoot icebox rivets. (21:39-22:43)... Hunter had to purchase slacks, hard-toed shoes, and a hair net before she went to work at Lockheed. Women were not allowed to wear sweaters or jewelry. They wore loose blouses to hide their figures. They were supplied with safety goggles. Hunter did not feel awkward about wearing pants because everyone else was wearing them. (22:43-23:46)... She worked the swing shift from 4:00 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. She rode the bus to and from work, walking to the bus station about three blocks from her home, on North Figueroa in Los Angeles. (23:46-26:58)... Hunter provides a description of the plant. There were always people going in and out of the plant doors, which made it very hot during the summer and cold during the winter. The plant was camouflaged with chicken wire, tar, and painted chicken feathers. The camouflaged helped cool the plant down during the summer. There were several wings in the building where she worked and she got lost in the plant on her second day. End of tape. *** File: rrrvhunter6.mp3 (0:17-2:06)... Tents were located outside the plant in which certain aspects of production were performed. However, employees were not allowed to go into other departments, so Hunter never knew what type of work was being completed in those tents. Lighting in Building B1 consisted of bulb lights. When Hunter was rehired at Lockheed in 1951, she was assigned to building A1, which was illuminated by florescent lights. (2:06-10:28)... Hunter worked on the floor and was never confined to small spaces during production. She describes the responsibilities involved in installing aluminum covering over air ducts, which was her first production job at Lockheed. Her section completed its phase of production on three airplanes during one shift, at which time that piece of airplane was lifted by an overhead crane and moved to the next stage of assembly. (10:28-13:26)... Department 16 covered the aluminum shroud/air duct work in building B1. This department was one of many production sites in Department 1916. Department 16 was staffed with approximately thirty men and women each. The men at Lockheed were, on average, about forty years old. The only time Hunter recalls seeing young men in the plant was when the Navy sent men in to help speed up production on P-38s. The older women in the plant were usually assigned to bench work so that they could sit down when they worked. The women in Hunter's age range worked on the assembly line. (13:26-17:54)... When she first started in the plant she thought the more seasoned employees were pretty smart. However, once she learned how to do the work she realized that a lot of people around her really did not know how to their job properly. When mistakes were made, employees were required to tell their supervisor so the problem could be remedied. Occasionally, the supervisor replaced an employee if they frequently made mistakes. Hunter explains that people did not cover for one another. She talks about the time her supervisor showed her what "peening" was and informed her that her partner was "an expert at it." Even though her partner was told not to peen rivets, she continued to do it. (17:54-22:13)... In general, women worked well together. However, Hunter did not like working with women who were overbearing or acted like know-it-alls. Some women had a habit of blaming others for their own mistakes. When Hunter first started at Lockheed, she was required to go through an orientation, during which the company rules were explained. They were told how to get along with people and how to work with minorities. Hunter recalls that one of her most enjoyable experiences at Lockheed was when she worked on a crew with two Black women. She also worked with Mexican, Chinese, Filipino, and Hawaiian people during the war, all of whom were excellent, if not better, workers than White employees. (22:13-24:20)... She felt tired at the end of her first day at the plant. However, she enjoyed her work so much that she could hardly wait to go back to the plant on Mondays after working six days a week. Employees also had the option of working every other Sunday if they wanted to. The most tired she ever felt was when she had to work days just before she was laid off. She had fun at work and enjoyed getting out of the house. Her husband also worked the night shift and wanted her to stay home with him during the day. When it was time for her to go to work, "it was just like turning a bird loose and giving it freedom." End of tape. *** File: rrrvhunter7.mp3 (0:00-3:50)... Although Hunter's husband worked all shifts at Southern Pacific, he usually worked the swing or graveyard shifts. Whenever she came home from work and noticed that he had slept in, she had to walk three quarters of a mile to use the telephone so that she could notify his work that he would be late or not coming in at all. When she was hired at Lockheed, she came home and told him that she would be going to work the next day, but the only thing he said was "Well, if they got a union, join it." Employees at Lockheed had to work ninety days before they could join the union. When she reached that point, she joined the IAM. (3:50-7:05)... Hunter discusses the benefits that Lockheed employees gained through the IAM. A lot of women joined the union during the war and the union supported them in any way possible. Hunter does not recall there being union meetings during the war because everyone was so busy. After the war, however, she and her co-workers regularly attended IAM meetings. (7:05-8:56)... Lockheed chartered a Los Angeles city bus to transport its employees to and from the plant. Occasionally, drivers signed up for carpools so that they could get extra gas and tire rations; however, Hunter did not find carpools to be dependable. Lockheed also had a store that sold supplies and work attire to employees, which is where Hunter purchased most of her slacks. They also provided banking services at the plant. She preferred to cash her paycheck at her local bank during the day instead of at the plant because she did not want to walk home at night carrying cash. (8:56-12:14)... Hunter spent her weekdays doing things around the house and taking care of her shopping and banking needs. In order to get to Los Angeles she had to take the bus and there always were long lines of people waiting. Most people were patient when they had to stand in long lines, but there always were the "usual bunch of gripers" who complained. On Sundays, Hunter spent the day cleaning house and doing laundry. When they purchased a home, her workload around the house increased substantially. Her husband's constant need for white bread, butter, and coffee kept her busy collecting ration coupons for those items. (12:14-14:52)... Hunter met a woman's counselor on her first day during an orientation meeting. She never had a need for counseling services while at Lockheed, but she recalls that her co-workers frequently sought counseling assistance when they felt "dreary" or if something happened on the job. (14:52-15:41)... Lockheed published a company newspaper, Lockheed Star; however, Hunter was unaware whether this paper was available during the war years. The IAM also generated a union newspaper that dealt with union business matters. (15:41-18:37)... There was never any entertainment at Lockheed for employees who worked the evening shifts. During the Christmas season, however, a choir performance was held and the president of Lockheed spoke to employees. The company choir comprised office workers at the plant. It is unclear whether Lockheed sponsored recreational activities during the war, though Hunter notes that the company newspaper frequently reports on its softball and tennis leagues. The company also organized a company picnic every year; however, she never attended this event. (18:37-19:20)... She did not have an active social life during the war. Occasionally, she and her husband went to the movies in the mornings. She remembers that a lot of her co-workers use to go to bars, but "I could never see any entertainment in that." (19:20-23:26)... When Hunter was riveting corrugated panels on the center section of P-38s, she was classified as a general assembler, not a riveter. She talks about postwar production on the P-80 and the poor work completed by a group of A-classified riveters, all of whom were women. (23:26-25:28)... Hunter's starting wage at Lockheed was .65 cents an hour. When she was laid off she was making either $1.10 or $1.17 per hour. The top wage at that time was $1.27. She returned to Lockheed in 1951 and was hired in at $1.75 per hour. She and her husband pooled their money and she put half of her wages in savings. After her husband died, she used her money to pay for home improvements. (25:28-26:27)... Hunter worked on the center section of the P-38 from 1943 until the end of the war. After the war, she worked on the P-80 for about a year. End of tape.
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