A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z (Fair Use Notice) (Tech Issues)
Kenneth Branham, interviewed by Joseph Gregory on March 6, 2006
Kenneth Branham, Chief of the Monacan Indian Nation, was born in Augusta County on October 28, 1953. He is the son of Lacy Branham Hearl and the brother of Carolyn Sue Brown Elliott. Branham discusses his childhood and the importance of farm labor (especially in apple orchards) for Monacan Indians while he grew up. As a teenager, his father died in a farming accident. The interview addresses how the Racial Integrity Law, a product of the eugenics movement, affected Monacans. The interview concludes with a discussion of his role as Chief of the Monacan Indian Nation. Duration: 46 min 56 sec.
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David and Teresa Bruce, interviewed by Lara Celeste Mack on November 16, 2006
Dave Bruce was born in Harrisonburg, VA. He graduated from high school, worked in the Navy and entered into the poultry business in the late 1970s. He is currently married to Teresa Bruce. Dave Bruce has been a turkey grower for the past 28 years. He has worked with multiple poultry companies growing hens for meat consumption and is now with Virginia Poultry Grower's Co-op and growing toms (male turkeys) for meat consumption. This interview covers the business of poultry farming in Rockingham Country, VA. The changes in turkey growing from the late 70s to today is discussed, as well as some differences between turkey growing and chicken growing and what it is like for a turkey farmer to work for a publicly owned company verses a privately owned company. Other topics that are discussed include some of the day to day tasks of turkey farming as well as the problems faced in turkey farming today. Duration: 1 hr 17 min 25 sec.
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William T. Burruss, interviewed by Jessica Woodard on March 5, 2007
William T. Burruss has worked as a turkey farmer for about twenty years, during the eighties and nineties. Before becoming a farmer, he worked with the highway department. He also raised cattle through both careers. As a poultry farmer, he worked under the supervision of Rocco for most of his career and Cargill for the last couple of years. About five years ago, he sold his farm to a nearby farmer and retired. This interview covers many facets of daily life, including the benefits and the hardships of poultry famring. It deals with relationships with supervising companies, neighbors, family, and other area farmers. Burruss focuses on the financial side of the poultry farming business, including starting loans, improvements loans, and other associated costs farmers face. Duration: 1 hr 04 min 19 sec.
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Greyson Daniels, interviewed by Shannon Gavin on March 15, 2006
Greyson Daniels has served time at Indian Creek correctional facilities and at the time of the interview resided at the Gemeinschaft Home, a transitional community re-entry program in Harrisonburg, VA. He grew up in eastern Virginia, near the Virginia Beach area, with his mother and three siblings. Daniels completed high school and attempted a few semesters at a local community college. He worked many jobs in the Virginia Beach area, including as a healthcare employee for a geriatric ward. He was charged with uttering in 2000. This was a first time offense with no prior record of any major charges. The interview addresses Daniels experiences growing up, in involvement in the criminal justice system, and his views of the programs at Gemeinschaft Home. Duration: 56 min 03 sec.
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Mark Deavers, interviewed by Richard Jones on December 7, 2006
Mark Deavers was born and raised in Rockingham County. He has lived in the same place all his life – the same house his parents lived in and he grew up in. He graduated from high school and attended Bridgewater College, where he majored in business administration with a double-major in economics. Upon graduation in 1993, he wanted to be a CPA, but for certain reasons, he eventually wound up in the poultry litter business. By 1996, Deavers became a farmer and litter distributor in the Rockingham County area. The interview covers facts about the distribution, storage, and use of poultry litter in Rockingham County. Deavers addresses the issue of environmental regulations and their effects on the litter business. Duration: 40 min 11 sec.
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Victoria Hamilton Duff, interviewed by Joseph Gregory on March 10, 2006
A member of the Monacan Indian Nation, Victoria Hamilton Duff Born in Augusta County on September 6, 1923, Her parents died when she was thirteen and her brothers and sisters raised her until she married at seventeen. She discusses household labor, her work milking cows, raising chickens and harvesting apples, and her love of square dancing as a young woman. She also addresses the racism she has experienced over the course of her life and how Monacan Indians were legally and socially classified as Black. She touches on her and her grandchildren's more recent involvement in powwows. Duration: 34 min 03 sec.
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Carolyn Sue Brown Elliott, interviewed by Joseph Gregory on March 25, 2006
Carolyn Sue Brown Elliot was born on January 11, 1958 and grew up in Amherst County Virginia. She is the daughter of Lacy Branham Hearl and the sister of Kenneth Branham and is the curator of the Monacan Indian Nation Museum. She addresses what it was like to grow up as a Monacan Indian in Virginia, including discrimination she faced as a child. She also talks about her experience working in apple orchards, and discusses her involvement in the movement to preserve and revive the Monacan Indian culture. Duration 52 min 08 sec.
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John Farrish, interviewed by Scott Burwell on December 5, 2005
Farrish was born in Staunton, Virginia in 1953. He graduated from Riverheads High School in Greenville, Virginia in 1972. He started driving a truck for Eastern Refrigerated Transport in 1975. He joined the Teamsters the same year. He started driving for Yellow Freight, which is the nation's largest freight carrier, in 1984 where he received the 1,000,000 miles safe driver award. He was elected president of Local 29 in 1997, and principal officer in 2000. Duration: 13 min 4 sec.
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Betty Kilby Fisher, interviewed by Carrie MacLeod on March 26, 2006
Betty Kilby Fisher moved to the Warren County area as a young girl. She attended a segregated elementary school in Warren County. Upon her graduation from the seventh grade her father filed a case with the NAACP to integrate the Warren County High School. Her older brothers had attended the Manassas boarding school and the black high school in Berryville, Virginia. In the interview Fisher discusses the things that she and the other Black students endured during the closing and eventual reopening of Warren County High. She also addresses in her subsequent achievements in life and evaluates what she learned by going through the battle of integration. Duration: 1 hr 08 min 54 sec.
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Gary Flory, interviewed by Adam Regula on November 13, 2006
Gary Flory grew up on a farm outside of Dayton, OH. After graduating from college with degrees in biology and environmental science in 1989 he came to the Shenandoah Valley. For four years he worked for an environmental consulting firm, specifically dealing with petroleum tank leaks and remediation. He then began working with the DEQ and remains there today. This interview centers on the environmental hazards presented by manure resulting from poultry production. The interview specifically deals with issues related to land application and environmental regulations associated with these applications. Duration: 51 min 21 sec.
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Brian Good, interviewed by Richard Jones on December 4, 2006
Brian Good grew up in the greater Harrisonburg area surrounded on all sides by the poultry waste and byproduct business. His father from West Virginia and his mother from Harrisonburg were both involved in the litter business. Good now owns and operates his own litter distribution company started by his father Roland Good years ago. Brian runs the business by himself, hauling loads to almost 11 different counties in the area. He currently lives in Broadway with his wife Grace Good, and their infant daughter Hannah Good. The interview covers some background information on poultry litter and some facts about its distribution, storage, and use in Rockingham County. The interview also addresses the origin of litter in Rockingham, how it is created, and the possible hazards it poses to the environment. Good is involved first hand in the composting, testing, and distributing of poultry litter, and holds extensive knowledge on the subject. Duration: 14 min 9 sec.
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George Hadley, interviewed by Richard Jones on April 3, 2007
Originally from Cape Cod, George Hadley learned the poultry trade from growing up on, and eventually running the family duck farm. He also earned a poultry husbandry degree from UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture in 1952. In 1955 the duck farm went under, and Mr. Hadley moved to the West Coast to work in an aircraft hanger. He later became a merchant seaman and traveled overseas for six years. Upon returning to the States, by 1977, he and his new partner, whom he met overseas, had established their first poultry house in Broadway, Virginia to begin raising chickens for Rocco. He has been raising chickens in Rockingham County for the past thirty years, and has been involved in the poultry industry in general for over fifty years. The interview addresses his experience in the field and examines the financial aspects of the poultry industry. Duration: 1 hr 02 min.
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John Hall, interviewed by Meryl Rubin on November 10, 2006
Born in Wisconsin, John Hall now lives in Weyer's Cave, VA. He now manages Southern States Feed Mill in Harrisonburg, VA. In this interview Hall discusses various aspects about the operation of the feed mill as well as the state of the feed industry in general. Hall addresses labor issues within the mill, the machinery involved in making the feed, and the ingredients that go into the feed itself. He also addresses transportation issues related to the feed industry. Duration: 49 min 38 sec.
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Kendall Harris, interviewed by Matthew Neese on April 20, 2007
Born in the area, Kendall Harris purchased his twenty-three acre farm in 1987 as an escape from suburbia. The farm began as a hobby where he raised a few hogs, a couple head of cattle and a garden. In 1992 he lost his job and began woodworking and raising organic, pasture poultry after reading a book by Joel Salatin. Harris hatches his own birds, raises and slaughters them on site. He contrasts his farm to growers who raise poultry in confinement barns. The interview provides insight into alternative agriculutre in the region. Duration: 24 min 01 sec.
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Lacy Branham Hearl, interviewed by Joseph Gregory on March 7, 2006
Lacy Branham Hearl was born in Augusta County on August 15, 1929. A member of the Monacan Indian Nation, she is the mother of Kenneth Branham and Carolyn Sue Brown Elliott. Both her parents worked in the apple orchards and neither attended school. Hearl had four years of schooling at the mission school before she quit at the age of eleven and worked in the apple orchard. She later worked for thirty-two years in a restaurant. The interview addresses her love of dancing as a young woman, canning and raising cows, racism against Monacan Indians, the relationship between her family and the Jewish owner of the orchard they lived on, her religion, the difference her life and the lives of her grandchildren, and the revitalization of Monacan culture in more recent years. Duration: 40 min 05 sec.
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Sandy and Jacinto Hernandez, interviewed by Claire Moore on December 2, 2005
Jacinto Hernandez is from Vera Cruz, Mexico. Sandy grew up in Arlington, VA and moved to Mexico to do mission work after graduating from college. They met and married in Mexico City where they worked together for 17 years in the ministry. They arrived in Harrisonburg in August 2005 to work for the Covenant Presbyterian Church's Hispanic ministry. Sandy and Jacinto Hernandez work at a local church with the Hispanic ministry and have been a part of the Hispanic community in Harrisonburg. The interview addresses the reasons that many Hispanics move to the area and the services and employment that are available to them upon moving to the area. Duration: 58 min 19 sec.
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JMU Professor, interviewed by Ellen Donnelly on May 1, 2006
This JMU Professor has chosen to keep his name anonymous. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan. After completing a Fulbright fellowship in New England, he came to came to western Virginia to live with his partner and worked for a metal company in New Market. Then he taught at a military school in Harrisonburg in 1968 for a while before becoming fully certified to teach English. He taught English at a public high school in Augusta County. He met his current partner while attending graduate school at JMU and has been living with him for over 25 years. The interview addresses changes in Harrisonburg 's social climate and goes into depth about the experience of being gay in the region and the community's reception to gays and lesbians. Duration: 1 hr 18 min 24 sec.
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Joe, interviewed by Ellen Donnelly on March 16, 2006
Joe was born in Buffalo, New York then moved to Rochester, New York. His parents divorced when he was thirteen and soon after he moved with his mom, sister and brother to Lynchburg, Virginia. His father soon followed and moved down to Virginia as well from Rochester. Joe went to high school in Lynchburg as well as two years at a local community college then two years at Lynchburg College where he graduated from undergrad. He came to James Madison University for his masters in history. Joe came out as being gay when he was a senior in high school. The interview provides a unique perspective into what being gay is really like in southern, conservative America. The interviewee has requested that only his first name be used. Duration: 55 min 16 sec.
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Mabel Johnson, interviewed by Hayden Van Dyke on March 21, 2006
Mabel Johnson was born in 1925 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. She has Indian ancestry and Western European ancestry and had two children that passed away at an early age. She is a retired poultry plant worker that represented her fellow workers in the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 593 for nine years. She represented workers from plants in Alma, Moorefield, Rockingham, Elkins and Marval. The interview focuses on her personal experience as a labor union representative. Duration: 1 hr 4min 21 sec.
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Darrell Keck, interviewed by Helen Murray on December 8, 2006
Darrel Keck was born in 1958. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He attended Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. At Bloomsburg he earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Marketing. He now lives in Virginia with his family. Darrel Keck is the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing for the Virginia operation of George's Inc. He is joined in the interview by the Supervisor of the Inside Sales Group at Cargill. She has requested that her name not be used here. This interview gives insight into the poultry industry in Rockingham County, from the perspective of management in these poultry companies. It addresses the marketing approaches of Cargill and George's Inc., paying close attention to where different parts of the processed bird are sold domestically and abroad. The interview touches on the subjects of poultry feed, avian flu and the relationship between the companies and the poultry growers. Duration: 22 min 32 sec.
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Allen Layman, interviewed by Hayden Van Dyke on April 5, 2006
Allen F. Layman, born on November 26, 1946, is from Staunton, Virginia. At the time of the interview he worked as a program manager and part time Psych Aid at Western State Mental Hospital in Staunton. He had worked there over thirty years and had been actively involved in the labor union, UE (United Radio, Electrical and Machine Workers of America). He served as the president of his local chapter of UE and taught the patients at the hospital various types of life skills. The interview addresses the history of unionism among state employees in Virginia – a right to work state. It also focuses on his work experiences in the mental hospital. Duration: 1 hr 3min 56 sec.
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Kristopher Maul, interviewed by Joanna Lee on March 28, 2006
At the time of the interview, Kristopher Maul was an eight-year-old child in the second grade. His father, whom he had limited contact with, was arrested two years earlier in a well publicized robbery. Maul's mother had not been with his father since Maul was about two. In the interview, Maul discusses his memories of his father and the time that he first heard his father's incarceration. He also addresses the difficulties of growing up without his father. Lee asks Maul to produce a drawing of this memory and then to discuss it. Duration: 36 min 22 sec.
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Betty May, interviewed by Heather Crabtree on March 16, 2007
Betty May was born in June 1941, in Russell County, Virginia. She is the daughter of Leonia and Charlie Peck and the oldest of nine children. Betty is deaf, and at the age of ten, she was sent to school in Staunton, Virginia at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. She stayed in Staunton until she was eighteen, except for summer vacation upon which she would return home to Russell County. She eventually settled in the Shenandoah Valley with her second husband Billy May. The interviewee focuses on her experiences as a poultry processing worker. She explains what it was like working through the changing ownership of her company, from Marval to Cargill. She gives insight into what it was like to be deaf and working in the poultry plant. The interview examines the dynamic elements that constitute a poultry plant, such as workers, management, machinery, and unions, among other things, and how they changed over twenty-three years. May's signs are translated by Martha Ringwald. Duration: 1 hr 04 min 40 sec.
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David Mehegan, interviewed by John Profita on March 16, 2007
David Mehegan was born in 1963 in Radford, Virginia. His parents moved to Harrisonburg when he was very young. David graduated from Eastern Mennonite High School in 1981. Immediately afterwards, he got involved in the construction business. He married Sylvia on September 15, 1984 and they now have three sons and three daughters. In 1990 David built his first poultry house. He and his brother Charlie currently operate on the same farm as poultry producers. The interview covers a variety of crucial issues related to the poultry industry as a whole. His experience highlights what is both good and bad about the industry as well as illustrates the core values of the agricultural community. Mehegan is not optimistic about the future of the poultry business in the Shenandoah Valley. Duration Part I: 1 hr 15 min 26 sec. Duration Part II: 7 min 55 sec.
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Greg Michaels, interviewed by Joanna Lee on April 23, 2006
Greg Michaels is a third generation organic farmer. He grew up in West Virginia and has a younger brother and sister. Michaels was convicted of selling five-thousand pounds of marijuana, a small amount of ecstasy, and money laundering. He was sent to prison for fourteen years—a mandatory minimum. Today, he is back in society and works as a yoga instructor in West Virginia. He has begun to discuss his experiences and critques of the criminal justice system in talks and has had a few of his works published in magazines such as “Talking Leaves.” In the interview, Michaels discusses his childhood, arrest, incarceration, marriage and divorce, and community re-entry. Duration 1 hr 33 min 12 sec.
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Charles Miller, interviewed by Tim Van Schaick on April 12, 2007
Charles Miller's family has owned the house he grew up in for many generations. After attending Virginia Tech and gaining a B.S. in Agricultural Education, and working as a weather observer for two years in the United States Air Force, Mr. Miller returned to his family home to pursue turkey farming, as well as teaching industrial arts and agriculture at Elkton and Turner Ashby. He built his first confinement house in 1966 in a joint venture with his brother Willard. They built three more in the 1970s before they dissolved their partnership. The operation now consists of three confinement houses for raising mature birds. The interview addresses Mr. Miller's experiences with developing a poultry industry in the Shenandoah Valley and tracing its development through forty years. Duration: 1 hr 54 min 50 sec.
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Forrest Miller, interviewed by Mary Catherine Collins on April 3, 2007
Forrest Miller was born and raised in Bridgewater, Virginia, where he currently lives. He is a third generation farmer and currently raises beef cattle and turkeys. He is an active member on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Poultry Growers Co-op. He is married and has three children. This interview provides information on the transformation of turkey growing from free range to confinement operations. The narrator discusses his knowledge of turkey farming outside of the United States. He addresses many of the issues turkey growers face today such as environmental problems, avian flu, genetics, and business changes. Duration: 1 hr 13 min 20 sec.
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Pat Morrison, interviewed by Amy Larrabee on April 21, 2006
Pat Morrison grew up in Harrisonburg, Va with her mother and four siblings. She married at seventeen and moved to Fairfax, Va for a year before her husband and she moved to Germany for his military career. She had two children by her husband before they divorced. She began work in food service in the public school system after her divorce and has remained in that field ever since. This interview covers the Morrison's youth in Harrisonburg, Va in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Morrison discusses changes to Harrisonburg, including the integration of schools, building of I-81, the expansion of JMU, as the development of strip malls, and changes to the school lunch program. The interview also addresses matters such as marriage, health, and insurance as they pertain to the narrator. Duration Part I: 9 min 38 sec. Duration Part II: 1 hr 36 min 5 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 Part I (.wav) / .mp3, Part II (.wav)
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René Osorio, interviewed by Sean Dougherty on December 12, 2006
Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, René Osorio received some college education in Mexico City and thereafter grew plants in greenhouses in Mexico. He came to America looking for opportunities for his children and better pay. In this interview René Osorio compares his life in Mexico to his life in the United States. He discusses his work in the Cargill turkey processing plant in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he has worked since 1989. The interview addresses the addresses the changes Osorio has seen take place at the plant over the seventeen years he has been there. He focuses on the speed of the provcessing line and workplace safety. His daughter, Janet Osorio served as the translator. Duration: 1 hr 4 min 39 sec.
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Julia Patterson, interview by Amy Larrabee on March 11, 2006
Julia Patterson, born on April 26, 1912, is an African American woman who grew up in rural Virginia. Her father died when she was just an infant, wherein her mother remarried. She has four full-siblings and twelve half-siblings. Her first paid work was apple-picking in an orchard that could be seen from her home. She completed the sixth grade, but was unable to travel to Staunton to continue schooling after that. Religion has played an important part in Patterson's life. She began work as a live-in domestic at the age of seventeen and remained in that profession till she was in her eighties. She worked in New Jersey and Virginia. Julia was very close with her last employers, for whom she worked over forty years in Waynesboro, Va. At the time of the interview, Patterson lived with her half-sister Mercedes, also a retired domestic worker, in their trailer in Kiddsville, Va. Duration: 1 hr 35 min 30 sec.
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Tom Peachy, interviewed by Carrie MacLeod on April 12, 2006
Tom Peachy moved to Warren County as a boy. He attended school in Warren County until the closing in 1958. At that time he attended one year of his education in Lewisburg, Virginia. When the school in Warren County reopened the following year he returned. He went on to complete his education with a master's degree. He is married and has three grown daughters. He has recently retired from an administrative position in the mental health field. In the interview, Peachy touches on his experience with the integration of the schools in Warren County. He tells a personal story of how he and his wife met. He also addresses his religious beliefs, his time spent in Brazil, his professional experiences as a psychologist. Duration: 1 hr 05 min 09 sec.
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Rob Preston, interviewed by Carole Ryan on October 25, 2006
Rob Preston is a forty-five year old poultry farmer living in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He grew up in Harrisonburg and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Richmond, in Richmond, VA and an engineering degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He has owned his own poultry farm for seventeen years, raising male turkeys for meat. For approximately the past two years, he has been a member of the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative. In this interview Rob Preston discusses his experience and knowledge of the raising of male turkeys in Rockingham County. He also discusses his involvement with the development of the Virginia Poultry Grower's Cooperative. Duration Part I: 35 min 28 sec. Duration Part II: 5 min 41sec.
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Susan Randall, interviewed by Matthew Neese on April 23, 2007
Susan Randall, runs a small farmAugusta County. She produces vegetables, free range chickens, and raises Boer goats primarily for local consumption. She currently is the head of the Staunton / Augusta Farmer's Market. She discusses the history of the farmer's market and addresses the development of her small-scale poultry business and its relationship to the other aspects of her farm. The interview provides an interesting look at alternative agriculture. Duration: 22 min 30 sec.
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Monica Robinson, interviewed by Nicole Snyder on March 23, 2006
Monica Robinson moved to Harrisonburg from Connecticut at a young age. Her mother was originally from Harrisonburg. She grew up in the northeast section of town where she still lives today. She attended JMU for her degrees and now teaches a Special Education type program at Spotswood High School. Robinson has a seventeen year old son who attends Harrisonburg High School. She is very active in the community and involved in many organizations such as Cop Watch and the NAACP. In the interview, Robinson addresses the R-4 urban renewal project, its negative impact on the African American community in Harrisonburg, and her involvement with Cop Watch, a group dedicated to witnessing and documenting police abuse in her neighborhood. Duration: 1 hr 16 min.
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Adam Royer, interviewed by Heather Crabtree on April 6, 2007
Adam Royer, was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 1978. He was one of a set of triplets. He graduated high school from Broadway, and married his high school sweetheart, Samantha. Through an ICT program in high school, he was able to get a part time job in a poultry plant. He worked for Wampler, which is now Cargill, from 1996 until 2002 when he was fired. As a result of epilepsy, which he was diagnosed with at the age of nine, he now is disabled and unable to work. This interview offers an interesting look into the rudiments of the modern poultry industry. The interview reveals Royer's experience as an employee with a disability. He discusses the role that transportation plays in the ability to keep a job in this area. He also discusses in detail the equipment, procedures, and employees in the processing plants he worked in. Note: Only the first twenty minutes of the interview is transcribed. Duration: 1 hr 17 min 49 sec.
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Samantha Royer, interviewed by Ali Womack on April 17, 2007
Samantha Royer was born and raised in Harrisonburg, VA. She was born in 1979 and was the only child of her two parents. She married a young man from New Jersey who has epilepsy, which caused problems at the poultry plant. Most of Samantha's family has worked at the poultry plants for at least some time. Samantha began there in June of 2001 when her husband could no longer work there. She worked on the line for two years until she quit for an office job and to finish her schooling. Samantha graduated from Blue Ridge Community College with an Associates Degree that focused on business management and office administration. This interview offers a harsh critique of the poultry industry. Duration: 41 min 27 sec.
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Evelio Ruvalcaba, interviewed by Ali Womack on March 23, 2007
Evelio Ruvalcaba is a migrant worker from Jalisco, Mexico. He was born in 1959 and raised in a small rural town in Jalisco called Colotlan. He was able to obtain a work visa for the United States five years ago. When he first arrived in the United States he worked picking apples in Oregon for several months, returned to Mexico, and then back to Oregon when there was more work picking apples. Eventually his brother sent word that there was work in the poultry plants of Rockingham County in Virginia. He came here and has been working in the area since. He worked for Cargill for his first thirty months in Harrisonburg. He also worked as a dishwasher and busser at Chili's bar and Grill. The interview addresses his migration experiences and offers details about what life is like in the poultry plant for immigrant workers. Duration: 1 hr 01 min 10 sec.
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Joel Salatin, interviewed by Jessica Silveri on April 21, 2007
Joel Salatin was born in 1957 in the United States but lived his first four years in Venezuela where his father owned a farm. The Salatin's left Venezuela as a result of guerilla warfare in the late 1950's and began farming in the Shenandoah Valley. Salatin eventually took over his father's farm and has become a leading voice advocating alternative and sustainable agricultural practices. On Polyface Farm, he raises range fed beef, pork and poultry among other things. He seeks to create a natural environment for the livestock as well as minimize impact on the land. The interview addresses his life history, the changes in his farming practices over time, and his critiques of industrial meat production. Duration: 1 hr 22 min 55 sec.
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Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Justina Saylor, interviewed by Ali Womack on April 10, 2007
Justina was born in 1985 on a US Military base in Baumholder, Germany. Her father was in the military and her family moved all over the country throughout her childhood including Germany, Texas, and Virginia. She attended the public school system through high school. She has lived in Harrisonburg for the past thirteen years. In February of 2001 Justina began to work for the Cargill distribution Center. She worked there for nine months and then returned a cook at Chili's Bar and Grill in Harrisonburg, VA. This interview gives insight into the packaging and distribution portion of the processing industry. It also addresses aspects of the job such as pay and benefits. Duration: 20 min 23 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Brent Sayre, interviewed by Mary Catherine Collins on March 12, 2007
Brent Howard Sayre was born and raised in Mount Crawford, Virginia. His parents are Howard H. and Hope Sayre. He graduated from Turner Ashby High School and received a degree in Ag-Economics from Blue Ridge Community College. Although he has held a variety of jobs, he returned to the poultry business in 1988 and has been a grower since. This interview provides a basic understanding of the poultry growing business. It explores some of the changes that have recently occurred and the issues that current poultry growers face. It touches on the ways a busy lifestyle in agriculture can have an impact on one's personal life. Duration: 51 min 09 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Garfield Shelton, interviewed by Nicole Snyder on March 3, 2006
Garfield P. Shelton Jr. grew up in Fairfax, Virginia and came to Harrisonburg after being released from Western State Hospital in Staunton. Shelton has been in and out of mental institutions and has been given a plethora of anti-psychotic medications. He lived homeless in Las Vegas for a while behind a Day Care Center. There and many other places he experienced the effects of a variety of drugs. Garfield links his drug problems to his parents' drug usage. Garfield has been arrested multiple times for various outbursts related to his schizophrenia, drug usage, or both. The interview addresses his life history and his religious beliefs. Duration Part I: 36 min 15 sec. Duration Part II: 5 min 50 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3, Part I (.wav) / .mp3, Part II (.wav)
Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Dennis Stoneburner and Robert Huffman, interviewed by Richard Jones on April 9, 2007
Overall the interview covers briefly some background information on the Dennis Stonburner's life as well as an overview of how he became involved in the poultry industry through a litter and shavings distributor, and Glen Hill Farm owner Robert Huffman. Surprisingly, Mr. Huffman joined the interview midway through unexpectedly and provided insight into the turkey business in Rockingham County as far back as the 1930s. Mr. Huffman was born in raised in the greater Harrisonburg area. He entered the poultry business in 1939 and has been growing up to 150,000 broilers for Tyson ever since 1980. The two compare and contrast the differences between the poultry business from back in the 1930s through the 1970s, when Mr. Stoneburner entered the field. Duration: 58 min 08 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Crysta Swarts, interviewed by Heather Campbell on March 2, 2006
Crysta Swarts was born May 4, 1983 in Harrisonburg, Virginia to Robert and Ellen Swarts. She has lived in several places growing up including Richmond, Virginia, Morgantown, West Virginia, and Huntington, Pennsylvania. She realized she was bi-sexual her freshman year at James Madison University. She has had long-term, monogamous relationships with males and females during the last five years. The interview explores how bisexuals fit into the GLBT community and society as a whole. Swarts reveals that she feels like an outsider in both the gay and straight communities. These complexities and others dealing with sexuality and gender were explored during the interview. Duration Part I: 57 min 40 sec. Part II: 1 hr 23 min 49 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3, Part I (.wav) / .mp3, Part II (.wav)
Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Forrest Thomson, interviewed by Daniel O'Keefe on November 21, 2006
Forrest Thomson was born in Danville, Virginia and has worked in the Poultry business for twenty seven years. He has a B.S. in Poultry Science from Virginia Tech University. This interview focuses on Mr. Thomson's experiences working on the line at a poultry plant. The interview covers topics such as the role immigrations plays in the industry and also addresses how safety procedures have changed on the processing line. Duration: 59 min 46 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Alice Valazquez, interviewed by Amanda Harris on March 30, 2006
Alice Valazquez was born in Puerto Rico. Her father was a native Puerto Rican, and her mother was from Dominican Republic. When Valazquez was about one and a half, she and her parents moved to Connecticut. Valazquez met her husband in New York, and they had three children together. After being convicted of a felony, he was deported back to Columbia. In the fall, 2006, Valazquez decided to move to Harrisonburg, Virginia with her three children so they could be close to their Godmother. At the time of the interview, Valazquez was living in a homeless shelter.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Mary Venable, interviewed by Kristen Brady on March 22, 2007
Mary Venable was born in Staunton, Virginia, and has lived there most of her her life. Venable worked in the poultry plant from 1988 until she retired in 2003. She discusses her childhood, describing school activities and her social life. For a few years Venable moved to New York but then returned to Staunton to be with her family and to find work. Although she had a difficult time at first, Venable eventually found a job working at the Purdue poultry plant. Venable talks about the difficulties she faced in the job related to transportation issues, mean co-workers, long strenuous hours, cold temperatures, and worplace injuries. She offers useful information on how things have changed over time in the industry – improvements in technology, OSHA regulations, and the growing number of Spanish employees. Duration: 1 hr 21 min 57 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Mary Venable, interviewed by Terrence Haliburton on April 29, 2007
This interview is a follow-up interview to the first one. The interview focuses on issues of racial discrimination in job markets in the Shenadoah Valley. It also further examines her work experiences at the Perdue poutry plant. Duration: 53 min 51 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
James and Laura Vines, interviewed by Dottie Westhafer on March 8, 2007
A successful electrical engineer Jim Vines sought an opportunity to return to the valley and fulfill a lifelong desire to farm. After purchasing 150 acres Mr. Vines put his education and research abilities to use in determining the best possible way to support his farm, family, and dreams. He shares his story for the purpose of giving voice to the trials, defeats, and successes of the Shenandoah Valley 's poultry growers. He focuses on his changing relationship with integrators as large conglomerates bought out local companies. He also discusses his various efforts to move out of poultry farming. Duration: 1 hr 48 min 28 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Jacqueline B. Walker, interviewed by Sherri Jones on November 27, 2006
Dr. Jacqueline B. Walker was born in June 1949 in New York, Virginia. Dr. Jacqueline B. Walker is an associate professor at James Madison University and holds a B.A. from Douglas College of Rutgers and M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University. She teaches courses on United States history and African-American history. This interview highlights the working conditions, general information and process of Jacqueline B. Walker's experience at Marval Poultry Plant in the summers of 1979 and 1981 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In this interview Dr. Walker describes events from her time as a turkey grader at Marval Poultry Plant, her training, her daily activities, and describes some of her co-workers and their relationships with management. Dr. Walker also highlights major concerns of factory workers at the time she spent at Marval, union concerns, union activities and the campaign Marval Poultry Plant put together to ultimately bust the union. Duration: 1 hr 15 min 34 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Jacqueline B. Walker, interviewed by Matthew Neese on March 27, 2007
This interview is a follow-up interview to the first one. The interview covers her experiences working in the Marval Poultry Plant in greater detail. She discusses the worker strike at the plant and the company effort to eliminate the union. She relates this campiagn to larger chnages in the economy that were taking place at the time. Duration: 1 hr 26 min 12 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav)
Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Charles Wampler Jr., interviewed by Jessica Silveri on March 15 and April 17, 2007
Born on Thanksgiving Day in 1915, Charles Wampler, Jr. has spent his entire adult life working in the in the poultry industry in Rockingham County, Virginia. His father, Charles Wampler, Sr. (a member of the Poultry Hall of Fame), introduced brooder houses to turkey production and initiated the rise of the modern turkey industry. Wampler Jr. became president of his father's business, Wampler Feed and Seed Company. In the interview he discusses the rise of this local poultry integrator. He addresses the introduction of the contract system, the establishment of the companies dressing plants, the development of confinement houses and the transformation of poultry breeds. He also touches on his decision to sell the family business to Pilgrim's Pride. Duration Part I: 38 min 01 sec. Duration Part II: 20 min 51 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3, Part I (.wav) / .mp3, Part II (.wav)
Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc)
Mason and Martha Ware, interviewed by Dottie Westhafer on April 2, 2007
Born on a farm, Mason Ware is retired from the Augusta County School System where he served as an agriculture teacher and administrator. His wife, Martha Ware is retired from teaching elementary school. Upon their retirement they purchased Martha's mother's farm to embark on a second career as turkey growers. This interview gives an overview of poultry farming in northern Augusta County. The interview addresses several innovative ideas they introduced to poultry growing in the region (especially composting) and discusses the Ware's experiences changing from one integrator to another. Duration: 1 hr 16 min 23 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Lefa Weaver, interviewed by Heather Crabtree on April 6, 2007
Born in 1956, Lefa Weaver grew up in different parts of the Valley, graduated high school in Broadway, married here, and had two children. At the age of fifteen, Weaver began work at Marval and throughout her life spent thirty years in the poultry plant. She also worked in a sewing factory and an aluminum tube plant in the Valley. The interview examines Weaver's childhood on a poultry farm, and her experience in poultry and manufacturing plants in the Shenandoah Valley. It offers a very detailed and descriptive look into the rudiments of the poultry plant. She discusses her experiences both as line worker and a line leader and addresses the issues associated with immigrant workers in the plants she worked in. She gives a dynamic look into the laborious and monotonous aspects of this line of work. Duration: 1 hr 40 min 37 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Background Journal - .pdf (.doc) / Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Travis Wills, interviewed by Ellen Donnelly on April 21, 2006
Travis Wills was raised in the Shenandoah Valley for the majority of his life after he and his parents had briefly lived in New York City. He is adopted and is the only child. He came out as being gay when he was twelve years old, but did not come out publicly until high school. Travis attended Fort Defiance High School, just south of Harrisonburg for his freshmen and sophomore years. For the second half of high school he home schooled himself due to intense ridicule and abuse received while at school. Since high school Travis has traveled and currently plays the piano at various gigs around the area. The interview sheds light onto the harsh reality of an un-accepting community. Having grown up in a Christian household, Travis offers a unique perspective on dealing with faith and homosexuality personally and within the Harrisonburg community. Duration: 1 hr 05 min 35 sec.
Listen to the Interview - .mp3 (.wav) / Read the Transcript - .pdf (.doc)
Read the Interview Guide - .pdf (.doc)
Note: While all the interviews posted on this website are in the public domain, please credit the interviewee, interviewer, and the Shenandoah Valley Oral History Project if you use all or any of these interviews in a manner other than for your personal use.
