Top of page

Notice
Special holiday hours in effect, December 2025 through January 2026. More information.

Audio Recording School years and coming to work at Watson

[School years and coming to work at Watson]

About this Item

Title

  • School years and coming to work at Watson

Names

  • Decker, Jean (Narrator)
  • McCarl, Robert (Interviewer)

Created / Published

  • 1994-08-10

Headings

  • -  Interviews
  • -  Schools
  • -  Oral history
  • -  Sound recordings
  • -  Vocational education
  • -  Watson Machine International
  • -  Machinery industry
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  United States -- New Jersey -- Paterson

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Interview with Jean Decker at Watson Machine International.
  • -  Summary of audio segment: School years she went to School #16 and now it is in her back yard. She went to School #15 and then to East Side High School. Also went to Pace Institute. She worked for a dye house -- National Dye and Finishing. But the business was going down, they were moving down south. They moved their office to Fairlawn and it was hard to travel. "So my girlfriend worked here (at Watson). And at that time you couldn't work after you were married. Mr. Van Hook didn't want any married women because, 'they'd have fights with their husband and then they would be crabby all day.' She was going to get married and I said, 'Gee, maybe I could get a job down there.' So she said to Mr. Gablehausen, 'look, Mr.Van Hook is bringing a friend of his here. And then it was about a year later he called me up and said, 'Look, are you still interested in coming?' And so I came down for an interview.

Medium

  • Analog Audio Cassette

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1995/028: WIP-RM-A006

Source Collection

  • Working in Paterson Project Collection (AFC 1995/028)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection (see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions in the material in this collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other holders of rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices and Privacy and Publicity Rights for additional information and restrictions.

The American Folklife Center and the professional fieldworkers who carry out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance.

Credit line

Working in Paterson Project collection, 1993-2002 (AFC 1995/028), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Decker, Jean, and Robert McCarl. School years and coming to work at Watson. -08-10, 1994. Audio. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afcwip002802/.

APA citation style:

Decker, J. & McCarl, R. (1994) School years and coming to work at Watson. -08-10. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afcwip002802/.

MLA citation style:

Decker, Jean, and Robert McCarl. School years and coming to work at Watson. -08-10, 1994. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/afcwip002802/>.