Submitted by:
Jeremy W. Williams
November 18, 2008
The story of the Livingston Shirt Factory parallels many other industrious ventures throughout the state of Tennessee in the mid twentieth century. It is a story of opportunity, chance, struggle, humor, and ultimately loss. Like many other textile factories, the Livingston Shirt Factory has faded in the pages of history. Almost every small, or large for that matter, city has its story of industry and for the majority these stories must be referred to in the past tense. To often these days we forget that at one point in our past we as a nation produced most of our own consumer goods, especially clothing. These days we fill the closets of our houses with apparel produced in places like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, or any other modern third world country that one could think of and all on the promise of lower prices. The same economic conditions that attracted factories to the Upper-Cumberland area are similar to today’s conditions.
The state of Tennessee has undergone many significant economic changes throughout its two hundred and twelve year history since it joined the Union in 1796. Until the 1940’s, Tennessee’s economy was largely agricultural with cotton, livestock, and tobacco as primary cash products. With the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression, several social programs were enacted as part of his New Deal initiative. Part of the New Deal included monies for the federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority commonly referred to as the TVA. The TVA was charged with building hydroelectric dams and power plants throughout Tennessee. This initiative coupled with the United States’entry to World War II in 1941, propelled new industries throughout Tennessee. Existing manufacturing facilities were often modified to accommodate the needs of the United States military. For instance, in Memphis the two largest manufacturing facilities were converted from automobile parts to aircraft parts production. The Hercules Powder Company in Chattanooga began producing TNT.
After World War II, Tennessee continued its efforts to attract investment. Communities large and small competed against one another to bring industries and jobs to their town. During this period, there were intensive efforts to unionize southern workers. Despite the influence trade unions held in the America’s Northern region, where the manufacturing industry was much more established, most of the Southern region was untouched by organized union activity. Many industrial workers in the South lived in what were referred to as “company towns” meaning that most jobs in the town were created by one manufacturer. In many cases, an entire community’s workforce was employed by one manufacturer so the community would more than likely face devastation if the manufacturer decided to leave. Therefore most workers were resistant to unionization attempts. The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which later became the AFL-CIO, made it an initiative to help unionize the Southern region’s labor force. The CIO termed this 1946 initiative “Operation Dixie.” The initiative was heavily focused on the textile industries of the South because by the end of World War II more than eighty percent of the American textile industry was located in the South. The lack of unionization in the South threatened to drive down wages in the Northern region were unionization was commonplace. Tennessee, like many other Southern states, had an abundance of cheap labor and, in many cases, the assurance of community elected officials that they would help discourage workers from organizing. Therefore, “Operation Dixie” faced strong opposition in the South and eventually ended in 1953.
The location of Tennessee’s industrial composition changed as many factories relocated to rural areas and small towns leaving major cities. By 1947, chemical production was the leading industry in Tennessee. The food and textile industries ranked second and third respectively. Overall, the number of manufacturing enterprises increased more than fifty percent since World War II began and the total value added by manufacturing had more than tripled. “Among states with 250,000 or more industrial jobs, Tennessee made the greatest gains during the decade 1955 to 1965.”
The economic history of Overton County follows closely with the rest of Tennessee. Located in Northern Middle Tennessee, Overton County consists of 439 square miles and borders Clay, Pickett, Fentress, Putnam, and Jackson counties. In the late 1800’s, Overton county primary produced agricultural products such as corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. According to Killebrew’s Resources of Tennessee, the county was also a leading producer of jeans, linsey cotton, cotton cloth, blankets, rag and woolen carpets. Most of these products were made in the home. The value of home manufactured products was listed by Killebrew’s Resources of Tennessee as $51,813. However, Overton county’s economy quickly changed during the implementation of the New Deal programs and subsequent World War II manufacturing boom.
In 1944, a shirt factory opened its doors in Livingston, Tennessee. It was located on South Church Street just off the courthouse square. Its first location was in a mule barn before a permanent structure was built. Several local women went to work for the first time in a manufacturing facility. To gain perspective on what it was like to work at the shirt factory, several interviews were conducted with former shirt factory employees.
Ms. Hazel Webb was kind enough to share her insight and prospective for the purpose of this paper. She is a native of Overton County and a wealth of knowledge on many subjects involving the history of Livingston. Ms. Webb worked for forty one years at the shirt factory and was there from the very early years of operation. Ms. Webb’s employee number was twenty-six. When she started work, the shirt factory was a large supplier of shirts for the military. The shirts were tailored to military specifications and worn by World War II soldiers. Ms. Webb began her first years of employment in the hemming department. She and others earned around forty cents per hour. When she finally retired forty one years later as a production supervisor, she was taking home roughly six dollars an hour. During her early years of employment, there were no benefits, 401K, pension, or any type of workers insurance. They were tough, determined, and just thrilled to have employment in those early years.
The shirt factory ran one shift until the 1970’s then they began running two shifts per day. Even in the 1970’s, the factory would look much different than its modern counterparts of today. The factory was closed in with few open windows or doors. It was not just poorly ventilated, but not vented at all. The lack of vents in the building made work challenging for the employees because of the blizzard of lint that was constantly floating through the air. During the summer months, the front doors would be opened and a large floor fan placed there to help cool the facility. Unfortunately, this little bit of relief from the heat only caused the lint and dust problem to worsen. The factory also had an oiled wooden floor and which, coupled with the lint, and could make for quite a fire hazard. In fact, on June 10, 1949, a storage room in the facility caught fire and was severely damaged. It was estimated that 8,490 army shirts were destroyed and damages topped $60,000.
In Ms. Webb’s opinion, the shirt factory’s presence in Livingston was one of the most socially beneficial things that had occurred in her lifetime in the city of Livingston. She described how most of the employees for the first time had substantial amounts of disposable income to spend. She remembers that she and many of her co-workers bought their first electric stoves, refrigerators, and other modern appliances from Puckett’s Furniture, Appliances, and Gifts. Many other businesses also had an increase in income from the increased sales. She also remarked that they where able to better feed, cloth, and care for their families with the new income source. Ms. Webb felt that if the factory had never come to Livingston, the city would not have developed as well as it did. She pointed out that cities and counties received an increase in tax revenues that helped develop utilities and public infrastructure such as roads, electricity, hospitals, and schools that most of us take for granted today.
One of Ms. Hazel Webb’s intriguing recollections took place during a unionization push at the factory. She told her story like it happened just yesterday and in great detail. In the late forties, a group of union miners where trying to set-up shop in the Livingston shirt factory. They had come “down from the mountain” and were standing outside the facility. In a hostile manner, they were telling the workers they better join if they knew what was good for them. Ms. Webb felt this was a poor way to try to win the employee support. The vote to unionize had recently failed and several from the union were picketing out in front of the factory. Ms. Webb was felt they were with in their rights to picket and try to organize, but they went too far. The picketers began to harass, insult, and block entry of workers just trying to go to work. As she experienced this first hand when one morning she was trying to hand in her production totals to her supervisors one morning and was confronted by an unknown to female picketer. The picketing lady keep stepping in front of Ms. Webb and began shouting at her something similar to, “can’t you read, there is a strike on here, you ain’t going in there, can’t you read hillbilly”. At that point, Ms. Webb said she punched her square on the chin and dropped her right there then climbed on her and gave her a few more punches before some of her co-workers pulled her off. After that, Ms. Webb and her fellow workers walked in and worked out their day. She said after that event she was never given any trouble by the people pushing for a union and that in the years that followed, the shirt factory never unionized. One could assume that this event provides hours of laugher and good natured ribbing for Ms. Webb and her friends.
Another interesting person who worked at the shirt factory was Ms. Clara Hunter. Ms. Hunter is also a native of Overton county and spent several years of the employment in the Livingston shirt factory. She brought an interesting perspective to the shirt factory subject because she worked for the factory on and off over the span of three decades. Ms. Hunter first started working the shirt factory in 1949 earning an hourly wage of sixty cents. She was employed until her husband who was in the armed services was transferred to another location in 1951. Throughout their marriage, she and her husband moved several times to different states, primarily Florida. They returned to Livingston in 1955 and she once again took up employment at shirt factory for another four years until once again they were relocated. They returned to Livingston for the final time in 1967. Ms. Hunter was hired for the third time and stayed on until 1969.
According to Ms. Hunter, even in 1949 employees were given their first raises after thirty days of work and would see their wages increase to seventy-five cents per hour. This may seem very meager, but for anyone that has held employment with a contemporary corporation, they usually wait at least ninety days before they give a first raise. In 1950, she remembers the company leader’s announcement that employee wages would be raised that year to at least one dollar an hour. Ms. Hunter was quick to point out this was not out of generosity on the part of her employer, but a result of the federally mandated raise in the minimum wage.
During her years at the shirt factory, Ms. Hunter worked mostly in the pressing department and spent most of her time rolling collars. This department was located in the downstairs or the basement area of the factory. She and her fellow employees worked at least forty hours a week with industrial steaming equipment. To say conditions were extremely hot and muggy during the summer months with no ventilation and the heat radiating from their equipment would be an under statement. Though conditions were tough, to say that they were unbearable would certainly be a misstatement because many worked in these conditions day after day for years.
Ms. Hunter was clear that working for the shirt factory was not something she regrets then or now. She was proud to have a job and took pride in her work. The shirt factory was the first major industrial facility in the area that she could recall, especially one in which the vast majority of employees were women. By Ms. Hunter’s estimations, more than ninety percent of the shirt factory employees were women. The fact that the shirt factory employed so many women is of great historical importance to Overton County and the surrounding area.
Ms. Hunter remembered the first thing she ever bought with her earnings was a large cedar chest for five dollars. She mentioned that many of her co-workers were able for the first time to purchase consumer goods such as washing machines, electric stoves, and even some purchased their first cars. She was one of them and proud of it.
Another longstanding Livingston shirt factory employee was Ms. Bobbie Maynord. Ms. Maynord stated she worked for the shirt factory for forty-eight years. She began in 1953 and recalled her first paycheck for a two week period was around forty-two dollars. She remembers receiving that first paycheck was one of the proudest moments of her life. Ms. Maynord spent her years at the shirt factory sewing on sleeves in the main area of the factory. When she finally retired years later she was making a little over five dollars per hour.
Ms. Maynord also mentioned that shirt factory work was extremely hot and with difficult working conditions. She stated that “even in the dead of winter, a person could break a sweat just by standing still.” However, she did recall that toward the end of the shirt factory’s existence, the owners finally did install air conditioning in the factory. Air conditioning, considered a luxury in the 1960’s and 1970’s, had finally become economically feasible. Ms. Maynord remembered the attempts to unionize and voting on the matter at different times during her employment. She felt that the union never took hold in the shirt factory because the employees were treated fairly and honestly by the management. Every time the vote came up for unionization, it quickly received an overwhelming majority of nay votes. Ms. Maynord reiterated that conditions in the factory where tough, but that life itself in those days was tough
Ms. Maynard did share a disheartening account of how shirt factory employees were treated that came from an unsuspecting source. It was not from the owners, managers, or even the failed unionizers, but from some of the female town’s people. She made it clear this was not mind set of the majority, but there were several, whom she would not name, that looked down on the employees of shirt factory. She came to this conclusion by how people would look at them. There were also episodes snickering, whispering, and similar forms of treatment. She felt that some of these people unjustly saw them as second class citizens. Ms. Maynord said that this ignorance had little effect on her, but she felt that there were a few that worked there that may have felt ashamed or embarrassed that they worked at the shirt factory. Ms. Maynord never truly understood where this mentality originated from or why. She laughingly said, “We were not the most socially refined or affluent group, but we were ordinary hard working country folk and proud of it.”
This mindset is not surprising especially for anyone who has ever toiled at a less than glamorous job such as a restaurant server, a gas station attendant, or manual laborer. This type of ignorance is far separated from reality. If the so called upper class had any real understanding of basic economics, they should have been thanking the men and women who worked in the factory. Their new purchasing power caused more small businesses to be created and existing businesses to thrive. With this in mind, there were several businessmen that purchased one thousand dollar tax free bonds from the town of Livingston to support an expansion of the shirt factory sometime between 1952 and 1956. The bonds were used to finance an addition to the factory so more employees and production capacity could be added.
There were other businesses that popped up just to service the needs of the shirt factory workers. There were numerous shuttle services that carried employees to and from the factory to many of the surrounding communities. Many of the employees did not have their own car and would literally pile in the back of trucks or stack-up in cars to get to work. Some people even purchased small buses to haul workers in from the Allons and Independence communities. Some of the classical economic models claim that for every industrial job that exists that there are two or three in the service sector that pop up. Ms. Maynord’s husband had a television business that serviced and sold television sets to a majority of her co-workers. These examples display the economic importance and historical significance the factory played in strengthening the Livingston community.
Ms. Opel Walker, a native of Rickman, worked for the Livingston shirt factory from its very inception in 1944 when she was only sixteen years old. At the beginning of her employment, she did not work in the big red brick building that later workers would recognize as the shirt factory. Instead, she said the first production took place in the old mule barns. One barn was used for production and one was used to store finished goods. During those early days, sales people would load up an old horse drawn wagon with shirts and push it up to the square to sell out of it. Within in a couple of years, the production moved to its longstanding facility on South Church Street.
Ms. Walker shared some more detail on the work conditions in the shirt factory. In the beginning, their only bathroom was an out house that all employees shared. One can only imagine the pungent aroma that arose from it during those hot summer days. The heat was the first thing that Ms. Walker drew from her memory. She also described the first fan that they installed to help combat the heat. This was not a fan that was purchased, but one that they crafted themselves. The conveyor belt that ran through the center of the factory was rigged by the employees with rectangular pieces of cardboard tethered to the bottom of the belt. As the conveyor would pass overhead, it would bring a little breeze of relief. However, this improvised central cardboard fan only worsened the lint problem. She quickly pointed out how it was better than nothing and made the conditions more bearable.
When Ms. Walker began her employment in 1944, she made around thirty cents an hour. She remained with the factory for twenty seven years. She and the others in those days labored forty hours for less than a dollar per hour until the minimum wage was implemented at one dollar in the 1950s. Ms. Walker has a very good grasp of how the monetary system works. She stated that in the 1940’s, a dollar possessed a greater purchasing power than it does these days. She continued stating that inflation is devaluation of a currency by reckless printing of money by the government, and that the high prices we deal with today is a result of the loss of purchasing power. Many people in our society these days believe that inflation in an increase in the worth of the object they are buying, but Ms. Opel has not fallen for this logic.
Ms. Opel Walker, like other women that were interviewed, enjoyed working at the shirt factory. She saw it as just one big extended family and one where everybody got along. She said everybody was just proud to have a job and did not mind working hard everyday. Once again, the description of simple country people was used to describe the majority of shirt factory employees.
When asked about the attempts for unionization, Ms. Walker stated that they had no reason for a union. She remembered her employer as fair, honest, and understanding. There were conflicts, she stated, but nothing that was major enough come to mind. Ms. Walker also confirmed the story of the one punch knockout that Ms. Webb gave to a less than polite picketer. Ms. Walker said she was right there behind her and witnessed first hand and it’s a story that has brought them laughter and good memories for years.
Ms. Walker also confirmed that she did perceive there was a second class citizenship placed upon the employees of shirt factory. She felt as though some townspeople thought the shirt factory employees were “a trashy lower class of hill folk.” Ms. Walker mentioned that some of high-headedness came from a few of the merchants in Livingston. She stated it was how they were treated or the lack of service given them when they went into some of the stores. With a loud laugh, she exclaimed “they did not mind taking our money,” and it seemed that they saw little difference in money earned from working in the factory. This unfortunate piece of their shared history shows how little we have changed from those days and like today, there are those who are thought to be of less value because of their lower socioeconomic standing.
Finally, Mr. Frank Martin took time of his busy schedule to share his experience with the Livingston shirt factory. Mr. Martin began working at the factory in latter months of 1952 and remained employed there until 1979. He remembered that when he started at the factory, his hourly wage was around seventy-five cents per hour, which was below the federal minimum wage at the time. Mr. Martin’s first job at the shirt factory was in the service department and first title was that of “bundle boy.” Mr. Martin then went to work in the shipping department as a low ranking staff member then rose to assistant shipping manager and finally finished out his employment with the shirt factory as the shipping department manager. Mr. Martin’s promotions continued as he became vice-president of production operations and then president of production becoming known as the boss. Mr. Martin felt that his promotions and success can be attributed to his dedication and work ethic. He mentioned that out that he did what ever his supervisors and managers asked and he tried to do it right the first time. Mr. Martin talked how he is a true believer in self-determination; that anybody do just about anything as long as he or she puts a hundred percent of themselves into what they are doing. This is how Mr. Martin always looked at life. He also felt that speed was not as important as long as he did every task the best he could.
Mr. Martin must have been right in his philosophy concerning work ethic. He was respected by his co-workers because Livingston was just the beginning of his career in the textile industry. From Livingston, Mr. Martin went on to North Carolina where he was Vice-President of six plants simultaneously. Mr. Martin went on from North Carolina to Costa Rica where he helped launch another textile facility. After Costa Rica, Mr. Martin returned to the United States and held upper level management positions throughout the mid-west, one of the more notable ones being with the Adidas Corporation. Mr. Martin now lives in Putnam County and is employed as a parole officer for several surrounding counties.
In regard to working conditions, Mr. Martin mentioned that the heat was a hard everyday reality for the workers, but they all pushed on and did the jobs they were hired to do. Mr. Martin felt that the downstairs steaming area during the summer was hottest place in the factory. For this reason, when the shirt factory finally installed air conditioning in the 1970’s, he and his management team saw that the presser positions all had vents blowing down on their work area. Mr. Martin said the management understood the work was hard because they had done many of the jobs they later supervised. This type of management style seemed to establish closeness between the employers and employees that he did not see at other, later factories he managed. Mr. Martin stated he believed that is why unionization was never successful in the factory. He felt that most of the employees were happy and content with their conditions. Mr. Martin admitted that there were occasional problems, but nothing that could not be worked out between adults. In fact, Mr. Martin could not remember one big or controversial event. He just remembered that everything seemed to get worked out in the end.
Mr. Martin estimated that at its peak, the Livingston Shirt Factory employed over 1,500 people. This made the factory, according to him, the largest shirt factory under one roof in the entire United States. During the peak years, the factory made over three hundred different styles or models of shirts. The shirt factory also ventured into light jackets, robes, and for a time even swim wear.
Mr. Martin reflected that his years at the shirt factory were some of the best in his life and misses to going into the factory. Mr. Martin feels that part of Livingston left when the shirt factory shut down in 1984. He would like to see some sort of similar industry would come to Livingston, but doubts that will ever happen again. He wholeheartedly believes that Livingston was made better by having the shirt factory a part of its history, whether forgotten or not.
In its forty year history, the Livingston shirt factory, under its many different labels and names, employed thousands of residents of the Upper Cumberland Area. The shirt factory gave the rural class of this area the chance to increase socioeconomic standing. Many of these people were able to buy homes or put heir children through college as a result of their persistent hard work. Most did this without complaint and without many of the modern worker benefits. These workers, who toiled away in conditions that most would not tolerate today, are a testament to and treasure of the State of Tennessee.
Unfortunately, the Livingston shirt factory met its demise halfway through President Ronald Reagan eight years due to the new centrally planned global economy. During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the United States entered into several trade treaties such as La Paza, GAT, and GATT that made the shirt factories a business model that would be unworkable in the United States from this time forward. In 1984, the owners had to close the doors on the Livingston shirt factory because of competition from a market with lower labor cost.
The people of Livingston were not as willing to give up on this industry as the previous owners. As a result of the closing of the factory, three ex-employees founded a locally owned shirt factory, KMA Industries, which hired many of the former employees of the Livingston shirt factory. It name was said to stand for “Kiss My Ass” Industries. These men did develop a sustainable manufacturing model that lasted seventeen years and proved that the closing of the older factory was a result of shrinking profit margin, not unsustainability. Tragically, KMA would meet its end by 2001 citing yet another trade treaty. This time the culprit was Bush/Clinton North-American Free Trade Agreement. In 2001, KMA filed for federal aid from the NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance program along with hundreds of other failing businesses across the country.
Now the only thing that remains of the Livingston shirt factory is a reunion held every year during the third week of October. The former employees and their families gather every year and have a picnic and tell stories about the good old days. This past year has been particularly hard on the alumni of Livingston shirt factory with fifty-seven former employees passing away in the 365 days that fell between the 2007 and 2008 reunions.
This paper was an attempt to shed some light on an important historical and economic industry of Livingston and Upper Cumberland region. Undoubtedly, there are similar accounts of industry’s entrance and exit throughout the Southeast and indeed the entire United States. The story of the Livingston shirt factory is one of that has been over looked and forgotten by many. It’s a story of those who proudly toiled in the mundane with only a desire to better their lives through their own sweat and sacrifice. It is a story that should be retold and remembered.