James Esters Retired Supervisor from Rath Packing Company in Waterloo, Iowa James Estes was born on May 8, 1913 in Kosciusko. Mr. Estes describes some of his encounters with racism while growing up in Mississippi and living on a farm where he and his family were sharecroppers. He depicts African Americans as being the “tail of the horse” or last as expressed through his life experiences. He says that many African-Americans living in Mississippi and working as sharecroppers preferred the type of work and wages offered by Rath Packing Company and John Deere. He moved to Waterloo and later started a job at Rath Packing in 1941 to 1976 where he was one of the first African-Americans to be promoted into an all white department. Despite Mr. Estes success he tells about some of the hardships that he and other African-Americans endured while working at the factory. Home | Overview | Interview | Videos | Community | Leadership | Media | Education | Links | Organizations | History | About Us | Site Map | Blog | Forum | Research Created and Updated by Chen and Jackson July 14, 2013
