Vines, James and Laura, interviewed by Dottie Westhafer

Scope and content:

Records an interview with Jim and Laura Vines, cattle farmers and former poultry growers from Verona, Virginia. Jim Vines discusses topics including buying a 150 acre farm in the Shenandoah Valley in 1978, working for Rocco, Inc. and his relationship with the Strickler family; his work as an electrical engineer and Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO); competition within the poultry industry; stigma associated with being a turkey farmer; challenges of converting poultry houses for other use; investment in cattle and his calf-cow operation. Vines describes various aspects of the poultry business, including diseases; different breeds of toms (male turkeys); the process of packaging chicks for mail delivery; moisture content and heat in the poultry houses; feed and nutrition for poultry; and the rating scale used to rank and pay growers.

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Open for research

Terms of access:

Public Domain

Parent restrictions:

Access to oral history interviews is governed by a deed of gift signed by the interviewer and narrator(s). Most interviews are open for research without restriction. In instances in which the narrator did not grant permission for full online access to recordings and transcripts, those restrictions are noted in a Conditions Governing Access note for each interview. In some instances, access to audio and transcripts is permissible only within the Special Collections reading room.

Pseudonyms are used when requested by the narrator.

Parent terms of access:
Public Domain

Contents