Report on Tobacco Bag Stringing Operations in North Carolina and Virginia, 1939
Taylorsville, N.C.,
March 31, 1939.
Mr. Sherlock Bronson
Richmond, Virginia
Dear Mr. Bronson:
I am deeply grateful to you and to all others who have made it possible for us to carry
on this work, The Stringing of Tobacco Bags, in our county. It is our greatest desire that
you continue to fight for us and our people who so greatly need and depends [sic] on this work.
We would feel so keenly the loss of this work. And may we urge that you do all you can in
keeping and supplying us with bags.
I have been engaged in this work for nearly four years and have paid out an enormous
amount of money monthly to these stringers who did this work at their leisure time.
Hundreds of our stringers depend entirely upon this work for their sole income. They
live on small farms and are unable to live without the help of aid elsewhere. Our welfare
problem is so great that the relief funds cannot take care of many others.
Should this work be taken away from us, there would be nothing to substitute
in the place of bag stringing. These people will have to be cared for. We are pleading
with you to help us and let us not make the relief problem any more burden.
In my own personal experience, I have been reared on a small farm and have known
just how much we depended on bags to buy our clothes and help us to get an education.
And in conclusion, may we ask that you strive earnestly and long to win this fight for
our poor people. Many thanks.
I remain,
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) WALTER CHILDERS, Agent.
[Source: "Tobacco Bag Stringing Operations in North Carolina and Virginia."
Richmond, Va.: 1939. North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.]
