Article, "Dynamite in Burlington," by William T. Couch and James Osler Bailey, published in <em>The Nation</em> (vol. 140, no. 3642), 24 April 1935.
Burlington Dynamite Plot
Article written by William T. Couch and James O. Bailey in support of textile workers accused of bombing two mills in Burlington, N.C.
William T. Couch
James Osler Bailey
William T. Couch Papers, #3825, Southern Historical Collection
The Nation
1935-04-24
English
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Caravan
tobacco
R.J. Reynolds employees
employee newsletter of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Peter O. Allan, Durham, N.C.
North Carolina Collection
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
April 1967
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
newspaper
English
newspaper
Durham Labor Journal
pro-union newsletter in Durham, NC
Tobacco Workers International Union
North Carolina Collection
Tobacco Workers International Union, Local 176 and A.C. Simpson, Durham, NC
January 1946
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
newsletter
English
newsletter
Justice Speaks: Black Workers for Justice
The newsletter of the Black Workers for Justice organization
Black Workers for Justice, Rocky Mount, N.C.
North Carolina Collection
Black Workers for Justice, Rocky Mount, N.C.
September 1992
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
newsletter
English
newsletter
Letter, Frank Porter Graham to Kemp Plummer Lewis
Contempo controversy and labor issues
In this letter, University President Frank Porter Graham thanks Kemp Plummer Lewis, a University trustee and Durham textile executive, for his support on several labor issues, including the "reduction of hours and abolition of night work for women and children." Graham goes onto describe the controversy surrounding the Scottsboro issue of Contempo magazine and states his intent not to interfere Langston Hughes' visit to Chapel Hill.
Contempo was a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill by co-editors Milton “Ab” Abernethy and Anthony Buttitta, both former UNC students. Although only lasting from 1931-1934, Contempo was able to build a strong reputation among critics and also managed to attract contributions from William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and many other well-known writers. The December 1931 issue of Contempo caused a stir in Chapel Hill due its inclusion of two controversial pieces by African American writer Langston Hughes.
Abernethy and Buttitta had decided to devote the entire issue to writings about the case of the Scottsboro Boys – a series of trials in Alabama involving nine African American boys who had been accused of the rape of two white women. Hughes submitted a poem called, “Christ in Alabama,” (which appeared with a drawing called, “Black Christ,” by artist Zell Ingram) and an essay called, “Southern Gentlemen, White Prostitutes, Mill-Owners, and Negroes.”
The publication of the Scottsboro issue was timed to appear several days before Hughes was to visit Chapel Hill for a public reading. Citizens of the town of Chapel Hill were incensed by the visit. Newly-inaugurated University of North Carolina President Frank Porter Graham and Chapel Hill town officials received a flood of letters denouncing Hughes as “sacrilegious” and calling for his engagement to be canceled. Graham did not interfere and the reading went on as planned.
Frank Porter Graham
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
16 December 1941
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Letter, James Osler Bailey to Kemp Plummer Lewis
"Strike Song: A Play of the Southern Mills," written by James Osler Bailey and his wife, Loretto Carroll Bailey, in 1929.
James Osler Bailey
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
11 December 1931
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Portion of draft of Strike Song
Strike Song and labor issues
Just as students used creative writing to test the limits of their free expression on campus, UNC faculty also used creative outlets to explore contentious issues of the day. In 1931, the Carolina Playmakers produced Strike Song, a three-act play co-written by James Osler Bailey of the English Department and his wife, Loretto Carroll Bailey. The play was based loosely on the events surrounding the 1929 revolts in Gastonia and Marion, North Carolina. The production debuted the same month as the Contempo controversy and the visit by Langston Hughes to Chapel Hill. Much like the Contempo incident, the production of Strike Song caught the ire of University critic, David Clark, outspoken editor of the Southern Textile Bulletin. Clark felt that the play misrepresented life in North Carolina’s textile industry and he especially objected to the music created for the production, saying that the play’s inclusion of music gave striking workers new songs to sing.
James Osler Bailey
James Osler Bailey papers #4113, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1931
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