Interview with Marie Mathis, June 4, 1984

Interview Summary

Marie Mathis (July 28, 1910 - February 28, 2005) was born in Greenwood, South Carolina, to parents William and Sina Mathis. Originally residing on a farm and helping her parents with sharecropping, Mathis and her family moved north in the early 1920s. The Mathis family first lived in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, before moving to Philadelphia about three years later. In Philadelphia, Marie Mathis then, at the age of sixteen, dropped out of school to help support her family. Rather than do domestic work, Marie Mathis found employment in tobacco factories for nine years. She then worked in clothing factories until her retirement.

Interview Keyword

African Americans--Politics and government. Housekeepers Tobacco factories African Americans--Housing. Clothing factories. African Americans--Education. African American families

Interview LC Subject

Work environment. Discrimination in employment. African Americans--Southern States. Greenwood (S.C.) Migration, Internal. Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social conditions. African Americans--Segregation African Americans--Social conditions. Race discrimination. Lebanon (Pa.) African Americans--Employment. United States--Race relations. Integration Labor unions.

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.