At that time [there was] equal work for equal pay, just a few years after we got hired. So … you had to work like the men because you were working for equal pay. The challenge for us was, not only being African American, and female, but it was trying to deal with the different personalities at that time. 1976 was pretty rough and you are looking at a predominately white male populace at the Camas mill. So it was a little rough there. — Crystal Odum discussing when she and a friend started working at the Camas mill, in a 2000 interview.
Crystal Odum and Richard Kingsberry are among a handful of long-time black employees at the paper mill. Odum, who works in “cut-size,” said that as a black woman she has experienced and dealt with both gender and racial issues at the mill. Kingsberry was hired in 1968 and works in the Kraft pulp processing unit. He said he had initial difficulties adjusting to the white culture and attitudes at the mill and in Camas. Both Odum and Kingsberry noted that mill management has been responsive to complaints and that co-worker attitudes have improved over the years.
So, I went out to the mill. Finally got out there … You know, to tell you the truth, I was so shy and so scared about going over there. I was just going to go over there and work for a couple of weeks, you know, maybe a month to get me a nice paycheck so I could come back and buy me a car. I had no intention of staying in Camas, Washington, I had no intention of staying in the mill. … And rightly so, the people in the mill were just as curious and shy. I wasn’t the first black to work there, but I think I’m one of the more vocal blacks to work there over the years. — Richard Kingsberry, in a 2000 interview.
Audio selections from interviews:
Kingsberry discusses initial difficulties at the mill
Odum discusses problems faced by whites who were friendly with minorities at mill
Transcript: Interview with Richard Kingsberry
Transcript: Interview with Crystal Odum interview
