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Dotson, Alma (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the final interview with Alma Dotson conducted on the couch in her living room. Although Dotson was pleased to be interviewed, it took a while for her to become more relaxed. Also, as a result of several strokes, her memory was not always sharp. 1/27/1981
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- 2021-03-22
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- *** File: rrradotson7.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-5:08)... When Dotson was laid off from North American after the war, she went to work for a linen store stamping monograms on various linens. The products were very expensive and made exclusively for the wealthy. She worked in this position for fourteen months. North American sent her a letter and offered a position. When she returned to the plant her wages were $1.20 an hour. She worked at there for a total of twenty-three years and retired in 1965. After she retired, she traveled to the Caribbean and spent the summer of 1966 with her sister in New York. (5:08-7:24)... Dotson's first husband, Bill, was still in the Merchant Marines when she went back to work for North American. He was a chef and was out to sea for long periods during the war. Her husband had previously worked for the railroad and she used passes to visit her sister in New York every year. She married her second husband, Walter, in 1950. She continued to travel after they married. (7:24-12:20)... Dotson's daughter, Billie (Marian), married a soldier when she was seventeen years old. She had not finished high school and promised her mother she would return to school after she married; however, she got pregnant and never went back to high school. Prior to marrying, her daughter had planned to pursue a career in nursing. Her daughter's husband served under General George Patton during WWII. After the war, they moved to her husband's hometown in Florida, but returned to California because they did not like the South. They moved in with Dotson and Billie went to work for the telephone company. When Dotson married her second husband, Walter, Billie and her husband moved into Walter's home and Walter moved in with Dotson. (12:20-13:58)... Dotson discusses the circumstances surrounding her husband's death. The family never really believed that he was ill and his death was sudden. The physicians initially thought he had pneumonia. During an operation, they discovered that his liver was bad and he died three days after entering the hospital. (13:58-22:57)... Dotson's daughter, Camille, was twelve years old when her father died. She discusses Camille's interest in pursuing Catholicism. It was not until Camille went to college that she abandoned religion. Dotson discusses her daughter's education and professional skills. When Camille was twenty-four years old, she got pregnant and gave the baby (Kristin) up for adoption. Twenty-four years later, Kristin located Camille. Dotson digresses, talking about her own educational pursuits. She went to school during the war years while she was working at North American. She has attended the California College of the Arts, USC, and Trade Tech. (22:57-27:58)... Dotson explains the personality differences between her two daughters. She discusses Camille's life and professional career. Camille put Kristen up for adoption when she was four years old. She was adopted into a good family and received a college education. Dotson was happy when she learned her granddaughter was willing to re-establish contact with the family. (27:58-28:29)... Dotson's daughters are seven years apart. When she worked at North American, her older daughter Billie was quite capable of looking after her younger daughter Camille. End of tape. *** File: rrradotson8.mp3 (0:00-1:07)... When Dotson was rehired at North American, she returned to bench work in the Structural Department. She remembers that many of the people she worked with during the war were called back to North American and nothing had dramatically changed at the plant. (1:07-3:15)... Dotson was active in the union at North American. However, she did not attend union meetings before or after she retired. She stays informed about union matters through the union newsletter. She would never work again without union representation because the union protects workers and provides them with benefits. She never filed a grievance while at North American because she was not a "troublemaker." (3:15-16:42)... When Dotson retired, she began traveling. After her husband retired, they traveled to Europe and purchased a Mercedes Benz in Germany. The drove all around Europe and then went to Africa again. (16:42-18:58)... While in Ethiopia, Dotson and her husband met a young girl who accompanied them in their travels. They invited her to move to the US and she lived with them for seven years. They raised her like a daughter and put her through college. She got a masters degree in dietetics and worked at the Martin Luther King Hospital. She was married in their home and moved to Washington, D.C. with her husband. (18:58-21:05)... Dotson met her second husband, Walter, at church. He worked for Sears Roebuck for twenty-nine years. The two years following her first husband's (Bill) death was difficult because she was working at North American and raising a fifteen-year-old daughter. Her husbands were quite different. Unlike her first husband, Walter was a nice man and did not drink or smoke. (21:05-29:31)... When Dotson married Walter, her daughter Billie and her husband moved into Walter's home. Billie bore four children and was supported by her husband until he died of a heart attack at the age of forty-three. She eventually re-married a German and moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. Dotson does not have any prejudiced opinions about the men her daughters chose to marry. Her maternal great grandmother was married to a White Irishman, and bore eight children, all of whom were college educated. Dotson's grandmother also attended college - a Black college in South Carolina that employed only white teachers from the North. End of tape. *** File: rrradotson9.mp3 (0:00-0:43)... Dotson continues a discussion on her grandmother's education. The college employed White Northern women to teach the students at the college her grandmother attended. Her grandmother received an education a short time after slavery was abolished. Dotson believes that her own interest in education is an innate quality. (0:43-4:22)... Dotson's mother was a dressmaker for wealthy Whites. Dotson started sewing when she was five years old and continued to sew throughout her life. During the years she worked at North American she made clothing for friends and family. When she retired, she started designing her own clothing and showcasing her designs in fashion shows. (4:22-5:48)... Dotson does not recall observing many changes at North American during the twenty-three years she was employed there. Several different types of planes were produced over the years. The process involved in producing different planes was called "retooling." When she returned to North American after the war, there were not as many women employed at the plant as there was during the war. The number of women employed at North American decreased over the years. (5:48-8:33)... The Black employees at North American were not discriminated against while she was employed there. Some supervisors from the South tried to treat Blacks differently, but the employees would not put up with it and the union protected the workers. She was involved in one strike while employed at North American, which lasted for fifty-six days. The employees struck for better wages and working conditions. Employees did receive periodic COLAs (cost of living raises). Although she is unaware of women being promoted into foremen positions, women did advance into lead positions. Dotson was never interested in pursuing these positions because there was too much responsibility associated with that type of work. (8:33-10:09)... Dotson was glad to retire from North American, but she did miss the work. She decided to retire because she had difficulty with her legs. She does not know if these problems were work related. She did not suffer from any health problems because of her work at North American. She recalls missing only one week of work due to the influenza. (10:09-14:19)... Upon reflection, Dotson is happier as a retired person than she has been in the past. She enjoys her hobbies and the life she lives with her husband. It was difficult raising her children during the Depression and she considers that an unhappy and hard time in her life. However, she would not change anything about her life if she had the chance to live it over again. She quips that she was born about forty years too soon because she enjoys spending time with young people and she admires their beauty. She agrees with her aunt's assessment that "youth is beauty." (14:19-16:24)... Dotson comments, "I don't want to be equal to a man," in response to questions regarding the ERA and the woman's movement. She explains that women who worked in the defense industry were equal with men because they did the same work. Women handled and operated the same mechanical instruments and tools as the men. However, she now thinks that this work is more appropriate for men and women should work in occupations that do not require "hard labor." (16:24-18:41)... In terms of her future, she plans on living her life day to day. She would like to revisit some destinations, such as Paris, Cairo, and India. She relates an experience she had when she visited Cairo. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Alma Dotson began her long career at North American in 1943 almost accidentally. A full-time homemaker for the previous ten years, she simply joined some friends who were on their way to apply for war jobs. Born in South Carolina, the third of four children, Dotson came to Los Angles in 1924 at the urging of an aunt living here. A year later she married and she and her husband worked as live in help at a Beverly Hills home until 1922, when her third child was born. After a one year layoff at war's end, during which time she worked as a monogrammer, she was recalled to North American, where she continued to work until retirement in 1965. Referred to the Rosie the Riveter project by Tina Hill, a co-worker at North American, Dotson was pleased to be interviewed. The interviews were conducted seated by side side on the couch in her living room, a room decorated with African memorabilia acquired during her trips there. Although she was often rather formal and stiff at the start of each interview, she relaxed after a while. Dotson had suffered from several stroke and these seemed to have impaired her memory to some extent, as well as her ability to concentrate. As a result, her thoughts often wandered and the the interviews are not strictly chronological. TOPICS - job responsibilities; wages; retirement; children; family history; husband; childcare; and education;defense work; job responsibilities; unionism; retirement; travels; friends; husbands; children; family history and miscegenation;family history; hobbies; production changes; unionism; labor strikes; race relations; working conditions; raises; promotions; health; retirement; reflections on life; gender expectations and gender roles; attitude
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