by Bryant Simon
36.Author interviews with Reverend Harold Miller, Cordelia Steele, and Annette Zimmerman.
37.Martha Quillin and Julie Powers Rives, “A Year Later, Hamlet Blaze Binds, Divides,” Raleigh News and Observer, September 4, 1992.
38.WRAL Broadcast, n.d., Martha Barr Personal Papers, in author’s possession.
39.Quillin and Rives, “A Year Later.”
40.James Greiff, “Jesse Jackson to Visit Survivors Today,” Charlotte Observer, September 10, 1991.
41.Author interview with Abbie Covington; and “Log of Events Transcribed by Lynn B. Gilliam, September 18–19, 1991,” Box, Imperial Fire, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC. On perceptions of Jackson at the time, see “The Parachute Politician” reprinted in Charlotte Observer, n.d., UFCW, Box 7, Hamlet Folder, GSU, Atlanta, GA. See also Marshall Frady, Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson (New York: Random House, 1996).
42.Author interview with Abbie Covington. On Jackson linking Hamlet to the civil rights struggle, see “Jackson Revisits Hamlet,” Raleigh News and Observer, November 26, 1991.
43.Letter from Martha Barr to author, n.d., in author’s possession, and author interviews with Ruth DeRosa and Stephen Frye.
44.Hamlet City Council Regular Meeting Minutes, August 28, 1992, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC; Ricki Morell, “Ceremonies Divide Survivors,” Raleigh News and Observer, September 4, 1992; and Haygood, “Still Burning.”
45.Author interview with Harold Miller.
46.Ricki Morell, “Ceremonies Divide Survivors,” Raleigh News and Observer, September 4, 1992; Haygood, “Still Burning,” and author interviews with Blanchard and Zimmerman.
47.On Zimmerman’s recent reflections on the past, see Melonie McLaurin, “Memories of a Fatal Tragedy,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 1, 2016.
48.Quillin and Rives, “A Year Later.”
49.Quote from Michael Etts, “Trauma and the Desire for Revenge,” available at www.adaptivetherapy.com/Trauma%20and%20the%20desire%20for%20revenge.pdf. On these incidents and others like them, see author interviews with Franke Moree, Ada Blanchard, and Annette Zimmerman, and on more fire-related vandalism, see Paige Williams, “Seven Years of Silence,” Charlotte Observer, October 25, 1998.
50.Author interview with Lisa Amaya-Jackson. For more on this dynamic, see Thane Rosenbaum, Payback: The Case for Revenge (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013).
51.Author interview with Loretta Goodwin.
52.Author interview with Lisa Amaya-Jackson.
53.Ibid.
54.“Chicken Plant Operators Indicted,” New York Times, March 10, 1992. On Black Workers for Justice and the group’s involvement in Hamlet after the fire, see author interviews with Ashaki Binta and Loretta Goodwin.
55.“Chicken Plant Operators Indicted.”
56.For this quote, see Matt Tomsic, “Cheshire Defends Rights of Those in Big Trouble,” Wilmington Star-News, February 1, 2011. Author interview with Joe Cheshire.
57.On Lowder, see Stephanie Banchero, “Case Closed: Retiring DA Adjourns to Private Life,” Charlotte Observer, January 3, 1995.
58.For the ACLU, see Motion for Appropriate Relief filed in State of North Carolina v. Guy Tobias LeGrande, available at www.aclu.org/files/assets/LeGrande_RJA_motion-r.pdf. On similar charges, see John H. Tucker, “Did a Prosecutor and Police Send an Innocent Teenager to Prison for Murder,” The Independent, January 5, 2015. On good old boy tag, see Banchero, “Case Closed.”
59.Author interview with Joe Cheshire. Heather Thompson heard Cheshire tell the same story at a public forum in North Carolina in 2014. Author interview with Thompson.
60.E-mail Joseph Cheshire to author, February 13, 2017.
61.“Meat-Plant Owner Pleads Guilty in a Blaze That Killed 25 People,” New York Times, September 15, 1992.
62.“Some Survivors Unhappy with Plea Bargain,” Chicago Tribune, September 15, 1992.
63.“Owner Gets 20 Years in Fatal Poultry Plant Fire,” Chicago Tribune, September 15, 1992.
64.Jeff Holland, “None of Them Should Have Died,” Richmond County Daily Journal, August 30, 1992.
65.Pouncey quoted by Estes Thompson, “Plant Owner Sentenced to Prison,” The State, September 15, 1992; Quick quoted in “Plant Owner Pleads Guilty in Fatal Fire,” Chicago Tribune, September 14, 1992; and Ratliff quoted in “Convicted Hamlet Plant Owner in Buncombe Jail,” Hendersonville Times News, September 26, 1992.
66.“Poultry Plant Owner Gets 20 Years in Deadly Blaze,” Jet (October 1992): 29.
67.Author interviews with Miller, Georgia Quick, and Berry Barbour.
68.Author interview with Ada Blanchard; and “16 Million Payoff Approved in Fatal Chicken Plant Fire,” Washington Post, December 17, 1992.
69.“First Lawsuit is Filed,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 11, 1991. Robert Miller Photograph, Folder—Imperial Food Products Plant, Victims’ Families and Victims Funerals, Photo Archives, Raleigh News and Observer Archives, Raleigh, NC. See also James Greiff, “Imperial Foods Fined in 80s Over Fire Doors,” Charlotte Observer, September 17, 1991.
70.“State Bar Charges D.C. Attorneys,” Richmond County Daily Journal, October 2, 1991. Author interview with Woody Gunter.
71.Jane Ruffin, “Hamlet Fire Suit Says Profits Topped Safety,” Raleigh News and Observer, October 18, 1991. See also, Rachel Buchanan, “Lawyers Quest Draws Charges,” Raleigh News and Observer, October 3, 1991; and Henry J. Reske, “Lawyer Charged with Soliciting: Accused Calls North Carolina Bar Officials ‘Sanctimonious Yah-Hoos,’” ABA Journal 77 (December 1991): 26.
72.Jeff Holland, “Fourth Lawsuit Is Filed Against Imperial Foods,” Richmond County Daily Journal, October 7, 1991; Jeff Holland, “Fifth Lawsuit Filed Here,” Richmond County Daily Journal, October 11 1991; “Tentative Plant Fire Settlement,” Washington Post, November 7, 1992.
73.Ed Shur, “Cold Hard Winter Settles In,” Baltimore Sun, December 26, 1991.
74.For the report, which runs several hundred pages, see North Carolina Department of Labor, Citation and Notification of Penalty, Inspection No. 018479204, December 30, 1991. See also Scott Bronstein, “Poultry Company Is Fined $32,326 Per Life Lost in the Fire,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, December 31, 1991; and Dennis Patterson, “N.C. Plant Fined $808,150 After Fatal Fire,” Washington Post, December 31, 1991.
75.“Poultry Plant Owner Objects to Fine Imposed in Fatal Fire,” Washington Post, January 24, 1992.
76.“State’s Work-Safety Changes Could Help OSHA Reform,” Richmond County Daily Journal, July 20, 1992.
77.“Families of Victims Have No Sympathy for Those Indicted,” Richmond County Daily Journal, March 10, 1992.
78.United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Re. Imperial Food Products, Inc., Debtors, Filed July 21, 1992, Case No., B-92-12380C-7G; and “Imperial Foods Will Not Reopen,” Richmond County Daily Journal, October 9, 1992.
79.“Roe Tells Judge He’s Broke,” Richmond County Daily Journal, August 7, 1992.
80.For Roe’s filing, see Charles M. Ivy, Trustee for Imperial v. PNC Bank, Schedule B—Personal Property Case No., B-92-12380C-7G. On the subsequent search for Roe’s funds, see “G-man turns into fee man,” Business North Carolina, December 11, 1992, 57.
81.On the reluctance at first to settle, see “Victims of Poultry-Plant Fire to Get $16.1 Million,” New York Times, November 8, 1992. “Fire Victims to Get $16.1 Million,” Richmond County Daily Journal, November 8, 1991. The actual breakdown of settlement payments comes from the following document, “Exhibit A: Settlement Offers,” Box, Imperial Fire, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC.
82.“Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Plant’s Suppliers,” The State, July 25, 1993. “Hamlet Fire Victims Sue 41 Companies,” Fayetteville News, July 25, 1993. Kemlite Video from the Personal Files of Charles Becton, in author’s possession.
83.Author interviews with Woody Gunther and Loretta Goodwin; and email from Annette Zimmerman to author, September 15, 2015.
84.Author
interview with Gary Johnson. See also William Anderson to Abbie Covington, September 14, 1993, Box, Imperial Fire, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC
85.“Hamlet Decision Is Painful, but Sound,” Greensboro News and Record, February 10, 1998. “Stone III v. North Carolina Department of Labor,” No. 81P97, Decided February 6, 1988. This decision is available at Open Jurist, available at openjurist.org/948/f2d/1295/stone-v-united-states-department-of-labor.
86.In his detailed and moving article, “Still Burning,” Haygood reported that Wall received $200,000, but according the settlement offer sheet found in the records at Hamlet City Hall, Wall got $109, 423.14.
87.Author interview with Amaya-Jackson; Haygood, “Still Burning”; and Williams, “Seven Years of Silence.”
88.Author interview with Georgia Quick.
89.Author interviews on the settlements with Blanchard and Loretta Goodwin; and Haygood, “Still Burning.” See quotes from Lillie Bell Davis in A New Beginning: It’s a Blessing to Be Alive (Lulu.com, 2004), 50. See also author interview with Stephen Frye.
90.Author interview with Stephen Frye.
91.Griffin quoted by David Perlmutt, “Owner May Reopen Plant Hit by Fire,” Charlotte Observer, September 18, 1991.
92.Author interviews with Loretta Goodwin and Annette Zimmerman. For more on Griffin, see “Imperial Foods Will Not Reopen.”
93.Police reports contained in an email from Tim Reid to Bryant Simon, July 27, 2015, in author’s possession; State v. Albert Griffin, File Number 98CR5003566, Rockingham Superior Court, Rockingham, NC; and Haygood, “Still Burning.”
94.Author interview with Frankie Moree.
95.Details of Wendy Dawkins’s murder come from author interview with Frankie Moree and Wil Haygood, “Still Burning.” See also State of North Carolina v. Philip Ray Dawkins, Jr., No. COA02-1637, January 20, 2004, available at caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-court-of-appeals/1339589.html.
96.For Quick and Frye’s stories, see author interviews with them as well as Amy Rogers, “Rising from the Ashes” in No Hiding Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Charlotte-Area Writers: Anthology, edited by Frye Gaillard, Amy Rogers, and Robert Inman (Asheboro, NC: Down Home Press, 1999), 218–24; quote, 221–22.
97.Davis, A New Beginning, 47–48; and Rogers, “Rising from the Ashes,” 221. The actual amount of the settlement was $87,358.50.
98.On triggers, see Sutter Health, “On Coping with Memories, Triggers, and Reminders,” available at www.pamf.org/teen/life/trauma/memories/; Freidman, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. On the building, see Rogers, “Rising from the Ashes,” 223; and author interview with Stephen Frye.
99.Author interviews with Ruth DeRosa and with Joseph Arnold, Stephen Frye, and Annette Zimmerman.
100.David Perlmutt, “Owner May Reopen Plant Hit by Fire,” Charlotte Observer, September 18, 1991; Shur, “Cold Hard Winter Settles In”; “Fire,” no paper, July 26, 1992, Folder—Imperial, 1992, Richmond County Historical Society, Rockingham, NC. Author interview with Covington. For more on Bobby Quick, see Jeff Holland, “Imperial Foods Worker Saved Lives,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 10, 1991; and “Hearing on HR 3160, Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act,” September 12, 1991, Serial No. 102-47, 100–01.
101.Author interviews with DeRosa and Zimmerman. Also see Gregg LaBar, “Hamlet, N.C.: Home to a National Tragedy,” Occupational Hazards (September 1992): 29.
102.“Blaze in Chicken Factory Plant Smolders for Survivors,” Chicago Tribune, September 14, 1992.
103.Author interview with Miller.
104.“Judge Orders Plant Sealed,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 15, 1991. On Brad Roe’s post-fire life, see Williams, “Seven Years of Silence” and “Imperial Officials Released on Bond,” Richmond County Daily Journal, March 13, 1992. The following article talks about Roe’s subsequent career as a bartender in the Atlanta suburbs without mentioning his earlier career in Hamlet: H.M. Cauley, “Around Town: Old Pub Is Back as Central City,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 9, 1998.
105.Allen Mask to Governor Hunt, November 17, 1998, Imperial File, Richmond County Historical Society, Rockingham, NC.
106.For background on Legrand, see author interview with Legrand; and Matt Harrelson, “Pastor Marks 50 Years of Ministry,” Richmond County Daily Journal, June 20, 2014.
107.Author interviews with Robin Hayes and Tommy Legrand.
108.Hamlet City Council Regular Meeting Minutes, July 14, 1998, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC.
109.Mask to Jesse Jackson, March 9, 1999, Imperial File, Richmond County Historical Society, Rockingham, NC.
110.Memorandum, Representative Wayne Goodwin to Tom McCullan (sic), July 6, 2000, Imperial File, Richmond County Historical Society, Rockingham, NC; “Hamlet Dropped Ball on Imperial Funding,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 29, 2000. See also author interview with Wayne Goodwin.
111.“Imperial Food Products,” Business North Carolina 20 (2000): 19. Background from author interview with Robin Hayes.
112.Tom MacCallum, “Monday Is Deadline for Imperial Cleanup to Begin,” Richmond County Daily Journal, October 1, 2000; Editorial, “Hamlet Dropped Ball on Imperial Funding,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 29, 2000. See also how Futrell lays out the issues about the property in his letter, Stephan Futrell to Marchell David, Interim City Manager, January 22, 2002, Box, Imperial Fire, Folder, Imperial Food File, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC.
113.Author interview with Goodwin; Hamlet City Council Regular Meeting Minutes, March 10, 1992, Hamlet City Hall; author interview with Legrand.
114.Author interviews with Miller, Legrand, and Zimmerman. Letter to the Editor from Mask, Richmond County Daily Journal, September 24, 2000.
115.Kimberly Harrington, “Imperial Building Declared Public Nuisance,” Richmond County Daily Journal, August 1, 2001. Legrand quote from “Disaster Site Being Demolished,” Raleigh News and Observer, September 18, 2001.
116.Author interviews with Legrand and Hayes. See also Howie Paul Harnett, “Healing, Step by Step: 12 Years After Disaster Breaks Ground on Memorial,” Charlotte Observer, April 25, 2003.
117.Author interview with Goodwin. On her rental house, see author interview with Steven Frye.
118.Author interview with Goodwin.
Epilogue
1.David Von Drehle, Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (New York: Grove Press, 2004), 262–63. For another important study of this event, see Richard Greenwald, The Triangle Fire, the Protocols of Peace, and Industrial Democracy in Progressive Era New York (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2005). On the significance of the Triangle fire over time, see “Twenty-Five Moments That Changed History,” Time, January 4, 2015, available at time.com/3889533/25-moments-changed-america. At the time of the Hamlet fire, a number of commentators also made comparisons between Triangle and Imperial. See, for a few examples, “Deadly Complacency,” Denver Post, September 5, 1991; Osha Gray Davidson, “It’s Still 1911 in America’s Rural Sweat Shops,” Baltimore Sun, September 7, 1991; and Albert Shanker, “The Hamlet, N.C., Fire: A Postmortem,” The New Republic, February 17, 1992, 27.
2.On the limits of the New Deal, see two assessments spanning two different eras and perspectives: William Leuchtenburg, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932–1940 (New York: Harper Perennial, 2009); and Jefferson Cowie, The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016).
3.“Blaze in Chicken Factory Plant Smolders for Survivors,” Chicago Tribune, September 14, 1992. See also James Martin to Henson P. Barnes and Daniel Blue, September 25, 1991, Office of General Counsel, Box 61, Folder—Department of Labor, OSHA, James Martin Papers, Hamlet Fire, 1991, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
4.Notes taken at this event by the author. See also Melonie McLaurin, “Emerging from the Darkness,” Richmond County Daily Journal, September 2, 2016. In February 1992, a Hamlet city council member urged his colleagues to begin a fire inspectio
n program and allocate money to send someone from the fire department to fire inspection school, someone other than Chief Fuller. See Hamlet City Council Regular Meeting Minutes, February 11, 1992, Hamlet City Hall. On the fire inspection reforms locally, see “City of Hamlet Fire Prevention, Protection, and Inspection Ordinance,” April 13, 1992, Box, Imperial Fire, Hamlet City Hall, Hamlet, NC; and statewide, see Ben Stocking, “Fire Inspections Ordered for All N.C. Businesses,” Raleigh News and Observer, December 11, 1991.
5.Thomas Borstelmann, The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic Inequality (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012), 3. See also Nancy MacLean, Equality Is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008). On the breakdown of segregation in two key southern industries, see, Timothy J. Minchin, Hiring the Black Worker: The Racial Integration of the Southern Textile Industry, 1960–1980 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999); and Minchin, The Color of Work: Civil Rights in the Southern Paper Industry, 1945–1980 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001).
6.Ellen Ruppel Shell, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture (New York: Penguin Press, 2009). For other key notions of cheap, each different from the one presented here, see David Bosshart, Cheap: The REAL Cost of the Global Trend for Bargains, Discounts and Consumer Choice (London and Philadelphia: Kegan Page, 2005). Lauren Weber, In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue (New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2009); Michael Carolan, The Real Cost of Cheap Food (London: Routledge, 2011); and Jason Moore, “Cheap Food and Bad Money: Food, Frontiers, and Financialization in the Rise and Demine of Neoliberalism,” Review (2012), available at www.jasonwmoore.com/uploads/Moore_Cheap_Food_and_Bad_Money.pdf.
7.Daniel T. Rodgers, Age of Fracture (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011).
8.For an example of this kind of thinking about the broader shift in American politics beyond the Democratic-Republican, liberal-conservative divide, see Matthew Lassiter, “Political History Beyond the Red-Blue Divide,” Journal of American History 98 (December 2011): 760–64.