Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2023/Fall/Section33/Three Workers of Cowikee Cotton Mill

Overview
Mrs. Lee Snipes, B.T. Clements, and Mrs. Champion all work in the Cowikee Cotton Mill in Eufaula, Alabama. The mill is run by Mr. Donald Comer.

Mrs. Lee Snipes
Mrs. Lee Snipes is a weaver and has worked at the cotton mill for 30 years altogether. She started out as a girl and continued to work after she got married. She works from 6 to 2 while her husband works from 2 to 10. She has 4 children; Ruby, Margaret, Willie, and Little Lee. Ruby is married, Margaret works at Elmore’s 5 and 10 Cent Store after graduating high school, Willie is the captain of Eufaula High football team and will be going to Auburn, and Little Lee is in high school while working at Rogers on Saturdays. Mrs. Snipes enjoys her job, despite the difficulties, and thinks of it as honorable work.

B.T. Clements
B.T. Clements is a fireman at Cowikee No. 1 and runs a small farm on the side. He works at the mill from 6 to 2 and later works at his farm with his sons later in the afternoon. He has 9 children, ages ranging from 2 to 18. When school starts, they leave the farm and move into town for the winter but as soon as the school day ends, Clements goes back to work on the farm with his sons. Clements lives a happy life and enjoys his work between the mill and his farm.

Mrs. Champion
Mrs. Champion, commonly called Miss Champion, is a weaver and is described to be “a philosopher, always happy”. Her children are all married and most of them moved away. Her husband died three years ago. Most of the money she makes, she donates to the poor. She lives in a two-room cabin that is kept clean with a flower yard, a small garden, and a chicken yard. Miss Champion leads a happy, simple life.

Labor Conditions in Cotton Mills
Cotton mills and the textile industry were some of the most highest industries for employment. "By 1900, Alabama's textile industry employed nearly 6,000 workers and that number more than doubled by 1920. As of 1950, approximately 54,000 employees worked in 72 mills", displaying the high rate of employment. Yet, labor conditions were often poor in these cotton mills with wages being low and conditions being hard to work in. However, as time has progressed, labor conditions have improved in which "[t]he condition of employee in southern mills is steadily improving, and the percentage and number of young children in employment is steadily decreasing” . In particular, labor conditions were able to improve when Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recovery Act into law in 1933. The NIRA raised wages to a minimum of $12/week in the south, reduced work hours to 40hrs/week, and prohibited child labor . Because of this, the labor conditions in cotton mills were able to steadily improve.

Education in Southern States
Particularly in the era of the Great Depression, education was lacking in the Southern states. Education in the southern states, especially in this time period, was less accessible for children of different backgrounds. There is a “‘long history of neglecting public education, depriving students – especially students of color and those from low-income families – of the opportunities that would help them succeed in school and life’”. Furthermore, this especially impacted the lives of people of color as “Negro scholastics compromised 36 per cent of the school population” in Alabama. Even as time has progressed, education in the southern states had improved only a little. "Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi scored in the bottom 10, all spending more than $3,000 [...] less per child each year than the national average", reinforcing that children were not able to get the education they deserved.