University of North Carolina at Asheville D. Hiden Ramsey Library Special Collections/University Archives Oral History Register for Benjamin R. Hunter Benjamin R. Hunter Asheville Area Photographic Collection, aap522 D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA
Title	Benjamin R. Hunter Oral History
Creator	Benjamin R. Hunter
Alt. Creator	Interviewer: Louis D. Silveri
Subject	LCSH:
Subject	Keyword: Black Mountain Hosiery Mills ; Depression ; Guastavino ; Roy Taylor ; Wages and Hours ; Race Relations ; Employee Relations ; Political Attitudes
Description	Hunter describes his business career, as he worked his way up from penniless young adventurer to owner of a successful hosiery finishing plant in Black Mountain. He offers a fascinating glimpse into working conditions during the Depression. Transcript of interview only: no tape.
Publisher	D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC, 28804
Contributor	Benjamin R. Hunter
Date	Electronic Record Issued: 2001-07-13
Type	Text
Format	48 double-spaced pages
Identifier	http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/oralhistory/SHRC/hunter.html
Source	Louis D. Silveri Oral History Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Language	English
Relation	John E. Jervis Labor Collection ; SHRC J. Wilson Ayers Oral History
Coverage	c1900's-1977 ; Black Mountain, NC
Rights	No restrictions ; Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Acquisition	Donor number: 23 ; Date of acquisition: August, 1977
Processed By	Southern Highlands Research Center staff , 1978 ; Special Collections staff, 2001
Interview Date	1977-07-08
Biography	One of eleven children, Benjamin R. Hunter, left home in his early teens with nothing but determination to make his way in the world. He worked as a telegraph operator in Mexico, where he learned to speak Spanish from a textbook. After working as a bill clerk for a railroad, he became a manager for a wholesale grocery business in Florida. His business success was based on hard work, a shrewd instinct for good business, and the willingness to take calculated risks. In 1928, just before the stock market crash, he entered the hosiery business, making men's socks at a finishing plant in Black Mountain. He learned the business from the ground up and saved money by training new employees himself, rather than hiring experienced workers. Beginning with an investment of $29,700, he sold his shares the business in 1963 for $300,000. During the Depression, workers earned $7.50 a week for a fifty-five hour week, ten hours every day and five hours on Saturday. His plant never unionized, and he was proud of the affection his employees felt for him and the "family spirit" in his business.
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