Web Site Search

Ask us now

Preliminary Inventory of the Don Roy Papers, 1921 - 1980

[top]

Descriptive Summary

Title
Don Roy Papers, 1921 - 1980.
Creator
Roy, Donald F.
Extent
25.5 Linear Feet,
25500 Items
Repository
University Archives, Duke University
Abstract
Donald Francis Roy (1909-1980), noted industrial sociologist, was a faculty member at Duke University in the Department of Sociology from 1950 until his retirement in 1979. Roy's areas of specialization were field methods of sociological research and social conflict. The collection includes correspondence, clippings, articles, reviews, manuscripts, research and field notes, reprints, newsletters, photographs, teaching materials, pamphlets, and other written materials. The major subjects of the collection are Roy's study of industrial sociology; workplace interactions; and specific collective bargaining and union campaigns of the Textile Workers Union of America, the Teamsters Union, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Language
English.
[top]

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
In off-site storage; 24 hours advance notice is required for use.
Use Restrictions
Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Don Roy Papers, University Archives, Duke University.
Provenance
The Don Roy Papers were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1982 (A82-44) and in 1983 (A83-106).
Processing Information
Processed by Linda Daniel
Completed May 2004
This collection is partially processed: materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.
Brittle newspaper clippings will need to be processed before use. Please consult University Archives staff.
De-accessioned: one copy of Look magazine, Nov. 16, 1965; copies of the News Reporter, published in Whiteville, N.C. (June 1, 1967; June 5, 1967; June 8, 1967; June 12, 1967; June 15, 1967; June 19, 1967; June 22, 1967; and June 26, 1967); four graded student examination books.
Encoded by Linda Daniel, May 2004
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
[top]

Biographical Note

Donald Francis Roy (1909-1980), noted industrial sociologist, was a faculty member at Duke University in the Department of Sociology from 1950 until his retirement in 1979. Roy was educated at the University of Washington (A.B., 1935; M.A., 1935) and at the University of Chicago (Ph.D., 1952). Roy held a number of teaching positions before he came to Duke. He taught at the University of Washington (1935-1937), the University of Oregon (1937-1938), the University of Chicago (1947-1950), Roosevelt College (1948-1950), and the Illinois Institute of Technology (1949-1950).

Roy's areas of specialization were field methods of sociological research and social conflict. Roy applied the participant observer approach to factory situations. He began in 1934 with a study of the makeshift world of unemployed men in a Seattle shantytown called Hooverville. Roy moved into Hooverville and wrote a master's thesis titled "Hooverville, a Study of a Community of Homeless Men in Seattle." Roy's interest in workplace interactions led him to employment in twenty-one different occupations in twenty industries. Roy used his personal involvement in these industries as a basis for his sociological research.

Donald Roy coined the term "banana time," a concept that signifies how employees have made workplaces more tolerable by participating in off-task camaraderie. Banana time refers to the collectively determined break time of factory workers, the start of which was signaled with a lunch box banana.

Roy was married and had two children.

[top]

Collection Overview

The collection includes correspondence, clippings, articles, reviews, manuscripts, research and field notes, reprints, newsletters, photographs, teaching materials, pamphlets, and other written materials. The major subjects of the collection are Roy's study of industrial sociology; workplace interactions; and specific collective bargaining and union campaigns of the Textile Workers Union of America, the Teamsters Union, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
While at Duke, Roy studied the attempts made by the Textile Workers Union of America to have union contracts accepted in some of the mills of Virginia and North Carolina. Between 1956-1959 and 1973-1979, Roy made detailed observations on the campaigns at the Hanes Knitting Company in Winston-Salem, N.C., 1956-1957; Elkin, N.C., 1956-1957; Chatham, Va., 1956; Burlington, N.C., 1957; Roanoke, Va., 1956 and 1965; Radford, Va., 1957; Vinton, Va., 1957; Dublin, Va., 1957; Altavista, Va., 1957; Henderson, N.C., 1958-1959; Roanoke Rapids, N.C., 1964-1979; Wallace, N.C., 1974 and 1977; Laurinburg, N.C., 1977-1979. The bulk of the information about these campaigns can be found in Boxes 1-5 and Boxes 14-19. Manuscripts on the Sheffield and Tyndall campaigns can be found in Box 1.
In addition, Roy followed the disputes involving the Teamsters Union in Atlanta, Ga., 1966, and the attempt by Local 77 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees to establish a union at Duke Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his life, Roy took detailed field notes, collected materials, and retained correspondence about his industrial studies. These materials are scattered throughout the collection.
In 1965-1966, Roy spent a year on sabbatical at Cornell University. During that year, Roy wrote case studies on the Tyndall Garment Co., the Sheffield and Laurel Campaigns, the Burlington Campaign, the Corinth Study, and the Labor Organizing Campaign. Roy's field notes and observations are included in the collection.
Roy used pseudonyms, to protect confidentiality, for the names of the people and places he studied. Box 14 contains a list of the pseudonyms Roy used in his case studies. The following list gives the actual name followed by the pseudonym used by Roy in some of his studies and in his folder titles.

Hanes KnittingTyndall Garments
Winston-Salem, N.C.Lancaster
Elkin, N.C.Laurel
Chatham, Va.Sheffield
Burlington, N.C.Jefferson
Roanoke, Va.Statesboro
Radford, Va.Zebulon
Vinton, Va.Corinth
Dublin, Va.Indian Hills
Altavista, Va.Cartersville
Roanoke Rapids, N.C.Clearwater

Box 6 contains files for a book begun by Roy about his interest and involvement in union organizing. The book was not completed. The collection file contains Mrs. Roy's outline of the book's organization.
The collection file includes a paper by Huw Beynon with notes and comments about Roy's papers. Beynon's manuscript offers a proposed classification for the collection and outlines themes of Roy's work. The collection file also includes a biographical sketch by Dr. Joy K. Roy, Roy's second wife.
[top]

Subject Headings

These and related materials may be accessed under the following subject headings in the Duke University Libraries online catalog.
List of Series in Collection
Container List
[top]

Preliminary Description of the Collection

Container List

Box 1

Manuscripts

Sheffield
Contains manuscript about the union campaign in Chatham, Va.
Tyndall
Contains manuscript about the Hanes Knitting union campaign in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Box 2

Union Campaigns, 1958-[1968]

Henderson, N.C., 1958-1961
Includes mostly printed matter from Locals 578 and 584 of the Textile Workers Union of America.
Cone, 1958-1961
Anacostia, 1966
Clinch Valley Coal 1967-[1968]
Elkin, 1967
[Erwin Mills?], [1966-1967]
Whiteville, 1967
Box 3

Textile Workers Union of America Publications

Trade Worker
Textile Worker
Labor Unite
Textile Labor
Textile Workers Union of America and Elkin, 1966
Box 4
Bill Swift, Unemployment Compensation Hearings (Elkin), 1957

Union Campaigns and Conferences, 1956-1957

Charlotte Conference, 1956
Winston-Salem, 1956-1957
Hanes and Elkin, 1956-1957
Charlotte, 1957
Roanoke and Lynchburg, 1957
Roanoke Follow-up, Oct. 1957
Chatham Defeat, 1956
Radford, 1957
Burlington Mills, 1957
Includes Vinton, Radford, Dublin, and Altavista.
Box 5
Burlington Mills, 1957
Vinton, 1957-1958
Charlotte, 1958
Winston-Salem, 1958
Restaurant Study, 1953
Teamsters, 1965
Roanoke, 1965
Marion, 1972
Box 6

Writings

"The Campaign Book "
Contains files for a book begun by Roy about his interest and involvement in union organizing. The book was not completed. The collection file contains Mrs. Roy's outline of the book's organization.
Box 7
Articles and Reviews
Includes "Banana Time" field notes; a copy of "The Homeless Man in Seattle;" and other writings. Roy's "Banana Time" paper describes the social interaction that took place within a group of factory machine operators.
Research Notes
Includes questionnaires; one notebook with field notes made during a trip to Manchester, England, to study a strike, in 1973; and other materials.
Box 8
Duke Unions, ca. 1966-1979
Contains files primarily about Union Local #77. Also includes one folder on the Vigil, notes from April-July 1968, and folders about the Duke University Hospital.
Box 9
Reprints and Photocopies
Material in this box is from published sources.
Box 10
Clippings
Material in this box is from U.S. and foreign newspapers.
Brittle newspaper clippings will need to be processed before use. Please consult University Archives staff.
Box 11
Collected Writings
Includes writings collected by Roy. Some material is from unidentified sources.
Box 12
Correspondence

Writings
Articles and Reviews
Manuscripts
Research Notes
Speeches
Box 13
Correspondence
University of Chicago
Sociology Dept. Business
ADPi
Music
Personal Correspondence
Includes letters of condolence to Mrs. Roy, 1980.
Family Photographs
Biographical Information
Duke Teaching Materials
"The Dolls"
Includes clippings, letters, and photographs about individuals who were Roy's undergraduates and wrote about the medical school for one of Roy's classes.
Cambridge University Teaching Materials, 1972-1973
Correspondence, 1972-1973
Box 14

Union Campaigns, 1945-1978
Cone, 1978
Cannon, ca. 1975
Stevens, 1965-ca. 1979
Standard Oil, 1945-1946
National Union of Public Employees (U.K.), 1973
Human Nature
Includes course notes from a course taught by H. Blumer.
Research Materials,
"Freedom and Equality" Conference, 1978

Studies and Manuscripts, Cornell, 1965-1966
Corinth Study
Burlington Study
Labor Union Organizing Campaign
Sheffield Campaign
Name Guides
Roy substituted fictional pseudonyms for the names of people he interviewed and places he studied in order to maintain confidentiality. This file includes a key to Roy's name code.
Box 15

Field Notes, 1946-1951
Field Notes, 1948-1951
Includes material collected at factories in Chicago and was most likely used for Roy's dissertation.
Box 16
Field Notes, 1946-1948
Clippings
Southern Labor History Conference, Atlanta, April 1976
Notes, Pensacola, Fla., Sept. 1961
Box 17

Field Notes, Aug. 20, 1973-July 31, 1979
Aug. 20-Dec. 23, 1973
Includes notes taken in Charlotte, N.C.; Cheraw, S.C. (Wallace Campaign); Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; and Aberdeen, N.C.
Jan. 8-Dec. 9, 1974
Includes notes taken in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. and Raleigh, N.C. (Hearing on Stevens Campaign, Federal Court House). Also includes notes taken from talks given by P. Gallaudet to a sociology class at UNC-CH, and by J. Coyne to one of Roy's sociology classes at Duke.
Box 18
Jan. 29-Dec. 23, 1975
Includes notes taken in Wallace, N.C.; Wilmington, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; and Enfield, N.C. Also includes notes taken at talks with McConville; from a letter from P. Swaity about a survey of attitudes of workers to unionization; with Swaity at RDU airport; from questionnaires from Swaity; revisions with Ed. Butler; and with Mr. and Mrs. Briggs at Duke Hospital.
Jan. 4-Dec. 5, 1976
Includes notes taken in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. and Enfield, N.C. Also includes notes taken at talks with Maurene at Duke Hospital and with J. Kissack
Jan. 20-Nov. 20, 1977
Includes notes taken in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; Laurinburg, N.C.; Elkin, N.C.; Wallace/Wilmington, N.C.; Aberdeen, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and Spartanburg, S.C. Also includes notes taken at talks with Ulf Damman.
Box 19
Feb. 5-Dec. 19, 1978
Includes notes taken in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; Hillsborough, N.C.; Laurinburg, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Raleigh, N.C. Also includes notes taken at talks with R. Andrews, J. Andrews, and Chesenhall.
Jan. 2-July 31, 1979
Includes notes taken in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; Greenville, N.C.; Laurinburg, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Wagram, N.C. Also includes notes taken at talks with U. Damman, Zivalich, P. McCullough, and Och-ja (Korea).