4 Letter activity three

On April 13, 1939, Mr. Sherlock Bronson wrote a “General statement of Sherlock Bronson of the circumstances and conditions under which the survey of industrial conditions in the tobacco bag stringing area was made, and certain conclusions therefrom” and sent it to Congressman Graham Barden. Read the following excerpt from that letter and answer the questions.

If you will study the survey, so far as it pertains to negro workers, you will find that they are cable of and do string many more bags than the white stringers. In at least one of the cases herein included the negro stringers earn as much as $110.00 a month. Many other negro stringers earn comparable sums. A fair interpretation from this would lead me to believe that even if it be assumed that the stringing of bags could be done in factories, the work would be confined by the employer entirely to negro labor.

1. Mr. Bronson appears to have included this portion of the letter to Congressman Barden for what reason?
2. Why do you think that Mr. Bronson chose to make this argument?
3. Would you trust this data? If not, why might you view it with suspicion? How could confirm its validity?
4. Considering the time period, do you think this would have been an effective argument for Mr. Bronson to make? Why or why not?
5. Why do people who are trying to persuade others to their opinion use emotional techniques?
6. In what situations today do we see the same techniques?

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Learn more

• Primary source: Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression Images and text from a report in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill documenting tobacco bag stringing work in North Carolina and Virginia in 1939.

Related topics

• Search LEARN NC for more resources on Great Depression, North Carolina, letters, tobacco, tobacco bag stringing, and work.