Oral History of Rhonda Jones, interviewed by Kieran Walsh Taylor, 3 April, 2009
Title
Oral History of Rhonda Jones, interviewed by Kieran Walsh Taylor, 3 April, 2009
Subject
Description
Rhonda Jones (1970) is a sanitation worker for the City of Charleston, South Carolina. Having grown up in Brooklyn, New York; Rhonda moved south as a teenager to care for her ailing grandparents. A self-described outspoken and aggressive "Northerner," Jones had trouble assimilating into the slowness of life in the Lowcountry. In this interview, she recalls her life as a teenager displaced in Charleston and her efforts to provide for her children. In 2000 Jones applied for employment with the City of Charleston and became one of the first women that worked in sanitation as collector. In a traditionally male dominated environment she faced multiple challenges that included sexual harassment due both being a women and being a lesbian. Furthermore, Jones articulate the struggles that all sanitation workers, regardless their gender, face in their battle for better working conditions and the right to organize a union. At the time of the interview Jones was very involved with Local 1199, an organizing body fighting for the formation of a sanitation workers' union.
This interview is a part of the COHP's "Working Charleston" series. Working Charleston documents the on and off job experiences of the longshoremen and lawyers, the bartenders and carriage drivers, hospital aides and high tech workers who make Charleston among the nation's prime tourist destinations and vital centers of global trade. The digital recordings and transcripts are part of The Citadel Oral History Program Collection at The Citadel Archives & Museum.
Listen to the audio on the Lowcountry Digital Library.
Source
Working Charleston
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Date
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/201
Coverage
Charleston (S.C.)
Duration
1 hour, 25 minutes
Interviewer
Kieran Walsh Taylor
Interviewee
Rhonda Jones
Location
Charleston, South Carolina
Collection
Citation
The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel, “Oral History of Rhonda Jones, interviewed by Kieran Walsh Taylor, 3 April, 2009,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 18, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/201.