- Collection:
- Southern Labor Archives
- Title:
- Herman and Gladys Adkins oral history interview, 1995-07-06
- Creator:
- Adkins, Herman B., 1918-1999
Adkins, Gladys - Contributor to Resource:
- Lutz, Christine
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1995-07-06
- Subject:
- Labor unions--Elections
Labor unions--Organizing
Coal miners--Labor unions
United Mine Workers of America
AFL-CIO - Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
United States, Kentucky, 38.20042, -84.87762 - Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
audiocassettes - Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Herman Adkins was born July 16, 1918 in Belcher, Kentucky. Over the course of his career he has been affiliated with several labor unions, including the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), 1932-1969, Allied and Technical Workers, 1969-1972, and United Steelworkers of America (USWA), 1972-1980. As a union leader in these organizations Adkins held many leadership positions. These include serving as Vice President of a UMWA local in 1939, President of UMWA local from 1939 to 1942, President of UMWA Local 6112, Representative of District 50 UMWA in 1950, Regional Director of the UMWA in 1952, and Sub-District Director, Georgia United Steelworkers, 1975. He passed away July 24, 1999 in Morrow, Georgia.
Adkins discusses his early work experience in Kentucky coal mining and the dangerous conditions in which he worked. He also talks about struggles in organizing the United Mine Workers, Joe Yablonski, labor organizing in Georgia and the perils of union work during the 1960s and 1970s. On the dangers of unionizing Adkins asks, “Which is the best – get shot or see your children starve?” Adkins relates his experience with the Allied and Technical Workers and United Steelworkers of America, plus District 50 within those organizations. Adkins also discusses the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), as well as women’s involvement in labor unions—trying to gain the better paying jobs. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/labor/id/6064
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/labor:6064/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: Adkins, Herman and Gladys Adkins, interviewed by Chris Lutz, July 6, 1995, Voices of Labor Oral History Project, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University.
- Extent:
- 03:15:29
- Original Collection:
- Voices of Labor Oral History Project
http://research.library.gsu.edu/VoicesofLabor
Southern Labor Archives - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
