The Hamlet Fire: a tragic story of cheap food, cheap government, and cheap lives
"Captivating and brilliantly conceived. . . [The Hamlet Fire] will provide readers with insights into our current national politics."
—The Washington Post
A "gifted writer" (Chicago Tribune) uses a long forgotten factory fire in small-town North Carolina to show how cut-rate food and labor have become the new American norm
For decades, the small, quiet town of Hamlet, North Carolina, thrived thanks to the railroad. But by the 1970s, it had become a postindustrial backwater, a magnet for businesses searching for cheap labor with little or almost no official oversight. One of these businesses was Imperial Food Products. The company paid its workers a dollar above the minimum wage to stand in pools of freezing water for hours on end, scraping gobs of fat off frozen chicken breasts before they got dipped in battered and fried into golden brown nuggets and tenders. If a worker complained about the heat or the cold or missed a shift to take care of their children or went to the bathroom too often they were fired. But they kept coming back to work because Hamlet was a place where jobs were scarce. Then, on the morning of September 3, 1991, the day after Labor Day, this factory that had never been inspected burst into flame. Twenty-five people—many of whom were black women with children, living on their own—perished that day behind the plant's locked and bolted doors.
Eighty years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, industrial disasters were supposed to have been a thing of the past. After spending several years talking to local residents, state officials, and survivors of the fire, award-winning historian Bryant Simon has written a vivid, potent, and disturbing social autopsy of this town, this factory, and this time that shows how cheap labor, cheap government, and cheap food came together in a way that was bound for tragedy.
Electronic books
Employers' liability
Employers' liability -- North Carolina -- Hamlet
Fire, 1991
Fires and fire prevention
Government policy
History
Imperial Food Products. -- Plant (Hamlet, N.C.) -- Fire, 1991
Industrial safety
Industrial safety -- Government policy -- United States
Nonfiction
Politics
Poultry plants
Poultry plants -- Fires and fire prevention -- North Carolina -- Hamlet
Racism
Racism -- Economic aspects -- United States
9781469661377
9781620972397
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 66d1785b-3699-e76c-78cc-3e4d66152d1f |
---|---|
Grouping Title | hamlet fire a tragic story of cheap food cheap government and cheap lives |
Grouping Author | bryant simon |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2023-06-01 02:08:35AM |
Last Indexed | 2023-06-01 02:37:10AM |
Solr Fields
Central
North Highlands-Antelope
Southgate
Central
North Highlands-Antelope
Southgate
"Captivating and brilliantly conceived. . . [The Hamlet Fire] will provide readers with insights into our current national politics."
—The Washington Post
A "gifted writer" (Chicago Tribune) uses a long forgotten factory fire in small-town North Carolina to show how cut-rate food and labor have become the new American norm
For decades, the small, quiet town of Hamlet, North Carolina, thrived thanks to the railroad. But by the 1970s, it had become a postindustrial backwater, a magnet for businesses searching for cheap labor with little or almost no official oversight. One of these businesses was Imperial Food Products. The company paid its workers a dollar above the minimum wage to stand in pools of freezing water for hours on end, scraping gobs of fat off frozen chicken breasts before they got dipped in battered and fried into golden brown nuggets and tenders. If a worker complained about the heat or the cold or missed a shift to take care of their children or went to the bathroom too often they were fired. But they kept coming back to work because Hamlet was a place where jobs were scarce. Then, on the morning of September 3, 1991, the day after Labor Day, this factory that had never been inspected burst into flame. Twenty-five people—many of whom were black women with children, living on their own—perished that day behind the plant's locked and bolted doors.
Eighty years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, industrial disasters were supposed to have been a thing of the past. After spending several years talking to local residents, state officials, and survivors of the fire, award-winning historian Bryant Simon has written a vivid, potent, and disturbing social autopsy of this town, this factory, and this time that shows how cheap labor, cheap government, and cheap food came together in a way that was bound for tragedy.
eBook
eBook
9781620972380
9781620972397
Central
North Highlands-Antelope
Southgate
2020
The University of North Carolina Press
Employers' liability -- North Carolina -- Hamlet
Imperial Food Products. -- Plant (Hamlet, N.C.) -- Fire, 1991
Industrial safety -- Government policy -- United States
Poultry plants -- Fires and fire prevention -- North Carolina -- Hamlet
Racism -- Economic aspects -- United States
The Hamlet Fire A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives
The Hamlet fire : a tragic story of cheap food, cheap government, and cheap lives [electronic resource] / Bryant Simon
Electronic books
Employers' liability
Fire, 1991
Fires and fire prevention
Government policy
History
Industrial safety
Nonfiction
Politics
Poultry plants
Racism
Solr Details Tables
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