Following the labor turbulence of the 1930s and the strain of the Great Depression, World War II brought relative calm and increased productivity to the mill communities. Immediately after the War, however, mill owners revived a movement that had . . . — — Map (db m222731) HM
African Americans experienced the textile mill world very differently than white families. Mills did not offer the same work opportunities to black men and women as they did for whites. Life in the mill village was also restricted, and black workers . . . — — Map (db m222732) HM
Mill employees worked at tedious jobs for long hours, usually having only Sundays to rest. With responsibilities at home as well as in the mill, free time was limited. Still, mill workers found ways to socialize, relax, and have fun in a world . . . — — Map (db m222733) HM
Mill owners initially built villages near textile mills to attract families of workers. By 1900, 92% of workers lived in mill-owned housing. A typical mill village in the 1920s consisted of about 350 houses located within walking distance of the . . . — — Map (db m222743) HM
Early textile mill owners alleviated labor shortages by recruiting entire families for employment. Offering homes as well as jobs, owners created villages of workers from which the mills could draw. Children - sometimes as young as seven - filled . . . — — Map (db m222745) HM
Although industrialization brought great improvements to the South, advancements in health and medicine lagged dramatically behind. Without antibiotics, infectious diseases were common and dangerous. Medical care was often unavailable, and employers . . . — — Map (db m222752) HM
In the village, every aspect of the workers’ lives revolved around the mill. In addition to their homes, the churches, schools, and stores all belonged or were tied to the mill owners. While these places provided much needed social time for mill . . . — — Map (db m222773) HM
Transitioning from the farm to an industrialized way of life was especially hard for men. On the farm, men experienced a certain amount of freedom and variety; millwork was often tedious, repetitive, and produced only wages for a day's labor. Men . . . — — Map (db m222776) HM
Industrialization came to the South later than it had in the North. The first generation of mill workers were transplanted farmers who had no tradition of labor unions. The nature of the mill village also made organized labor difficult. The mill . . . — — Map (db m222787) HM
The first waves of migration off the farms were primarily single women and widows. Since these women had limited access to land, they were eager to take the steady work and housing the textile mills provided. An example of this was Bynum, North . . . — — Map (db m222806) HM
Turning raw cotton into cloth was a multi-step process. As a result, textile mills had different jobs all along the production chain. In the opening room, men unfastened cotton bales and loaded them into cleaning and fluffing machines. From there . . . — — Map (db m222807) HM
In the decades following the Civil War, the textile industry thrust the South into a period of rapid industrialization. In North Carolina, construction of railroads began through Piedmont “backcountry,” and cities sprung up in their paths. Piedmont . . . — — Map (db m222805) HM
