In 1816 a pair of Rhode Island brothers stopped their wagons along the
Tyger River, cleared away trees and chinquapin thickets, and began
construction on a rustic spinning factory. From those humble beginnings
arose one of the nation's mightiest textile communities, a place that by
the end of the 19th century became known as the Lowell of the South.
Over the course of nearly two centuries more than 100,000 people labored
in the red brick cotton mills and modern textile factories in
Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Textile Town is their story. One
part historical narrative, one part scrapbook, one part encyclopedia,
this illustrated volume presents the voices of scholars and blue-collar
workers side by side in an exploration of this complex and compelling
saga. Working in libraries and mill villages, more than 40 writers and
historians-many of them sons, daughters, and grandchildren of textile
workers-contributed to this engaging history. Major chapter authors
include Katherine Cann, David L. Carlton, Philip Racine, Betsy Wakefield
Teter, G.C. Waldrep III, and Jeffrey Willis. Each chapter is infused
with factual material and excerpts from primary sources, such as
letters, newspaper columns, and diaries. After each chapter, there are
profiles of textile leaders and in-depth entries on a variety of
subjects, such as mill village music, food, sports, and health issues.
There are also plenty of oral histories, some collected with a
microphone and others resurrected from long-buried documents. Each
chapter ends with the lyrics of a song written about cotton mill life.
At the back of the book is a glossary of textile terms and historical
entries on 50 different textile businesses that have operated in
Spartanburg County since 1816. More than 250 old photographs were
collected for this work, representing mills and villages throughout the
county. From the great migration from the mountains in the 1880s, to the
labor conflict of the 1930s, to the wartime camaraderie of the 1940s and
beyond, Textile Town tells a seminal Southern story, one that readers
won't soon forget.
