Interview with David B. Martin

In this interview, David Martin recounts his work history, which entails a short stint in an iron ore mine as well as working at Lloyd Noland Hospital, where he often saw the physical effects of mining. Martin was working before he graduated high school, earning money in the summer and attending classes in the winter at Miles College, which had a high school then. He explains that after he was of age, he worked in the iron ore mines for four or five years. He says he liked the job, and the people were nice and helpful to him because he was a student. They assured him of getting his hours. He adds that there was segregation in the mines, but everyone accepted it. Martin also discusses working at Lloyd Noland Hospital for over forty years. The hospital was connected to TCI and was the primary hospital for that mining company. He recalls seeing patients come in with injures from their work. Broken bones were common, as was hearing loss, burns, and heat exhaustion. He remembers one man with a temperature of over 110 degrees who survived. Martin also explains that Silicosis was a problem, but the company didn't recognize it as a threat to ore miners, only coal miners, so ore miners got no compensation for it. He adds that he saw more ore miners than coal miners at the hospital, because the UMWA eventually forced the company to take the coal miners to a hospital across town. Martin recalls being happy working at Lloyd Noland. Through the Depression, the staff got three meals a day, uniforms, and hospital care. Martin also discusses being a member of a labor union at that time. He was almost the president, but he says he turned down the job because he believed that an integrated union having a black president would hurt their ability to accomplish their goals