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[Identification of item], Don Roy Papers, University Archives, Duke University.
The Don Roy Papers were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1982 (A82-44) and in 1983 (A83-106).
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
Encoded by Linda Daniel, May 2004
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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
Donald Roy coined the term
Roy was married and had two children.
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.
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.
These and related materials may be accessed under the following subject headings in the Duke University Libraries online catalog.
Contains manuscript about the union campaign in Chatham, Va.
Contains manuscript about the Hanes Knitting union campaign in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Includes mostly printed matter from Locals 578 and 584 of the Textile Workers Union of America.
Includes Vinton, Radford, Dublin, and Altavista.
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.
Includes
Includes questionnaires; one notebook with field notes made during a trip to Manchester, England, to study a strike, in 1973; and other materials.
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.
Material in this box is from published sources.
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.
Includes writings collected by Roy. Some material is from unidentified sources.
Includes letters of condolence to Mrs. Roy, 1980.
Includes clippings, letters, and photographs about individuals who were Roy's undergraduates and wrote about the medical school for one of Roy's classes.
Includes course notes from a course taught by H. Blumer.
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.
Includes material collected at factories in Chicago and was most likely used for Roy's dissertation.
Includes notes taken in Charlotte, N.C.; Cheraw, S.C. (Wallace Campaign); Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; and Aberdeen, N.C.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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).