Wampler, Charles W. Jr., interviewed by Dr. Daniel Kerr and Students of HIST-337

Creator:
Wampler, Charles W., Jr., 1915-2017 and Kerr, Daniel R., 1970-
Scope and content:

Records an interview with Charles Wampler, Jr., age 92, who discusses the origins of the Wampler businesses, the history of turkey growing, and his own role in the family business. Topics include recollections of Charles Wampler, Sr. incubating and hatching turkey eggs; the beginnings of the Wampler Feed and Seed Company and then Wampler Foods; business connections to Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute); the Wampler family farm, including raising Angus cattle; his own education and early employment within the poultry industry; work developing the turkey industry in the country of Turkey; The Virginia Poultry Federation and National Turkey Federation; early use of peat moss for turkey litter; mergers and acquisitions, including Pilgrim's Pride and Longeacre; relationship with the Strickler family at Rocco; changes in contracts; the turkey inspection process; purchasing grain and the feed; breeds of turkeys; de-beaking turkeys; the transition from range to confinement; and Wampler's view of organics.

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