Biographical/historical information

Alexander Berkley Carrington was born on January 27, 1862, Farmville, VA. At the age of 16, Carrington moved to Danville, VA, to work with his uncle. He would later partner with Dibrell Brothers, where he would eventually serve as company president. During this time, he also served as president of the Tobacco Assocation of the United States. In 1895, he had a son, Alexander Berkley Carrington, Jr., who worked in the tobacco business like his father and later became president of Dibrell Brothers. On January 26, 1936, Carrington, Sr., passed away in Danville, VA.

Written March 2024

Scope and arrangement

The A. B. Carrington Jr. Papers consist mainly of the correspondence of the Tobacco Association of the United States from 11 February 1943 to 29 June 1943. The bulk of the correspondence deals with the labor shortage in the tobacco industry due to World War II.

Topics of discussion center around problems of tobacco growing, buying, grading and processing operations. Limited mention is made of the minimum wage requirement of the Fair Labor Standards Act as it pertained to tobacco processing personnel (20 April 1943). Of special interest are the numerous proposals offered to help alleviate the labor problem. Among the solutions presented were limiting the buying time per day to four hours, limiting the number of pounds which any given set of buyers could buy in one day, and limiting the number of pounds the farmers could sell per week. These propositions were designed to prevent congestion in the tobacco market due to the shortage of labor. Other correspondence pertains to various problems faced by the tobacco industry due to the War. Among these secondary problems are lack of gasoline and cotton twine due to rationing and the curtailment of conventions due to the war effort. The two newspaper articles included in the collection also deal with the labor shortage problem as faced by the Tobacco Association in 1943.

Administrative information

Custodial History

May 19, 1970, 248 items; Correspondence (1943) of the Tobacco Association of the United States. Gift of Mr. Frank M. Wooten Jr. Greenville, N.C.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mr. Frank M. Wooten

Processing information

Processed by R. Weaver, October 1970

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration

Key terms

Personal Names

Carrington, A. B.

Corporate Names

Tobacco Association of United States--History

Topical

Rationing--United States--History--20th century
Tobacco industry--Employees--Supply and demand--History
Tobacco--United States--History--20th century
World War, 1939-1945--Manpower--United States--History

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