COOLEEMEE, NC — A new publication preserving a critical piece of history made its public debut this month.
The magazine-format Bobbin & Shuttle includes over a score of feature articles by mill town authors, portraying the ordinary and extraordinary lives of those who tended machines but also built strong families, packed churches and unique neighborhoods.
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The magazine’s birth is part of a Southwide Textile Heritage Initiative launched in July by a coalition of mill village historians, town officials, museums and others who felt an urgent need to collect and preserve mill town stories before they vanish.
They are now organizing a regional “Cotton Mill Reunion & Convention” in Kannapolis, NC, on April 22-23.
Since both humor and hard work characterized mill village life, the publication’s many stories reflect that range of attitudes, sentiments and values that got mill people through both good and bad times.
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Within its color cover are 64 pages of photos and stories about mill town Christmas parades, weaver’s tools, iron skillets, “outlaw” baseball and the many uses for Karo buckets. Some authors grew up in the 1950s while others lived through the Great Depression.
Factual histories examine topics such as “Did Mill Families Make Economic Progress?” and the trek from farm to factory in North Georgia.
“The Promise” is a firsthand account by lifelong textile employee, Charles Terrell Freeman, who at age 8 went to work spinning in 1898. After his death, Freeman’s handwritten words from a small notebook were transcribed by his great nephew.
Also highlighted are a number of current efforts to preserve the South’s cotton mill heritage — from the Carolinas to Tennessee — including documentary filmmaking, projects that save old mills and cherished public buildings, work by creative artists and local history groups that proudly teach mill history to elementary school students or work to digitize old photo collections.
“We promised members of the Order of the Bobbin & Shuttle a keepsake memories booklet,” said editor Lynn Rumley. “And it just turned into a magazine. We had much more material than we could print, so I hope this won’t be the last issue.”
The “Order” is an honorary group whose members’ dues contribute to the Initiative.
Rumley directs the Textile Heritage Center at Cooleemee and coordinates the Initiative.
Greensboro native Paul Sams took on the job of raising donations for the first issue. He grew up in one of the Cone Mill villages there and last year he organized a mill-school reunion that drew more than 600 people. Cone, now part of the International Textile Group, underwrote some of the magazine’s costs, as did Jewel Industries of Winston-Salem, NC, Early Bird Hosiery Mills of Hickory, NC, Knit-Wear Fabrics of Burlington, NC, the Cone American Legion Post and many others.
Rumley said she hopes other corporate and mill town sponsorships will underwrite future editions now that a first issue is in hand.
Now, the group wants to get the magazine into the hands of as many textile mill people as possible.
The magazine is available by mail with a donation of at least $3 plus $2 shipping and handling. Discounted Bulk orders of the magazine are available.
To place an order write: Textile Heritage, PO Box 667, Cooleemee, NC 27014. You may also request information about the Cotton Mill Reunion & Convention” or visit www.textileheritage.org or call 336-284-6040.
