Big Business of Cotton Cloth / Working in the Berkshires

Big Business of Cotton Cloth, also, Working in the Berkshires. Explore Adams History. , (north face) , Big Business of Cotton Cloth , This engraving appeared at the top of the company's letterhead c.1921. , For 68 years, the Berkshire mills were the largest employer in town and, at one time, the second largest employer in the county. They wove raw cotton into sheeting and dress cloth. It drew workers from across Europe and Québec, Canada. , Brothers W.B. and C.T. Plunkett, natives of Adams, conceived The Berkshire Cotton Mfg. Co. as a way to take advantage of the McKinley Tariff. They knew the tariff would price-protect their products from foreign competition. The company shipped its first finished cloth seven weeks before the tariff went into effect. , A view down Hoosac Street shows Mill #1 to the left and Mill #3 to the right. , In 10 years, they expanded the mill four times; each mill was bigger than its predecessor. , William McKinley, as governor of Ohio, dedicated Mill #2. Mill #3 went into operation on the day he was nominated as the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency. On his third visit to Adams in 1899, President McKinley laid the cornerstone of Mill #4. His economic policy so greatly affected this town that a full-size statue of him was commissioned in his honor. , A spooling room where cotton threads are transferred to spools. , The company changed names two more times. In 1927, it merged with four other mills in New England and became Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates. In 1954, it merged with a nylon producer and became Berkshire Hathaway. The mills in Adams closed four years later. Warren Buffett purchased this company, sold off its textile business and turned it into the very successful stock-holding company that it is today. , An aerial view of the four Berkshire Mills taken in the late 1940s. , Explore Adams History is a project of the Adams Historical Society and ProAdams, made possible by a grant from the Barrett Fund and the support of our sponsors. , (south face) , Working in the Berkshires , Mule spinners and doffers pose around their overseer in a Mule room of Berkshire Mill #2, razed in 1961. , To operate a mill this size, thousands of workers were needed. Many of them had no experience working in a factory. Former farmworkers were trained to be spinners, spooler tenders, doffer boys, mule spinners, weavers, and loom-fixers. Six days a week, they ran up and down long rows, operating several machines at a time, keeping a strict production schedule that determined their take-home pay. They breathed cotton dust, tolerated constant noise, and risked severe injury if they weren't careful. , Women and teenagers were important parts of the production work force. , These workers not only made textiles, but helped Adams to develop by raising families and creating a vibrant community of religious, social and athletic organizations. They were proud of their hard work and confident that they were better off than the generation before them. , Rows of spooling machines kept workers busy. , In 1916, Lewis Hine took photos in the Berkshire Mills as well as other places on his crusade to draw attention to the exploitation of child labor in America. These are four of at least 20 photos he made in the local mills. , Explore Adams History is a project of the Adams Historical Society and ProAdams, made possible by a grant from the Barrett Fund and the support of our sponsors.