Good morning all (or whatever time of day you're reading this.) Pam Meyers here. For my September post, I've invited award-winning author, Ane Mulligan, to share what she's learned about the textile mills of Georgia as she researched for her new historical series set in Georgia. Ane (pronounced like Ann) makes her home in Georgia and was able to gain first-hand knowledge. Take it away Ane!
Georgia's Textile Mills
by
Ane Mulligan
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| Not all housing for workers was as nice as that below. Cabbagetown, Atlanta. https://cabbagetown.com/history |
It’s not surprising that I have a textile mill in one of my books since my husband worked in a woolen mill in England as a young man. And while I got some good insight from him, the bulk of my research was done here in Georgia, since my WIP, By the Sweet Gum, is set in a mill town.
After the Civil War (which was not very civil) Yankees and carpetbaggers took over the South. Money and stocks were taken from Southerners. Plantation owners became sharecroppers or lived in genteel poverty. Add to that, the soil nutrient depletion caused by cash crops, and drought, life was hardscrabble in Georgia.
Because of this, northern textile mill owners saw a cheap source of labor in the South. The Fulton Cotton and Bag Mills in Atlanta was built in 1868.
Entire families were employed at the mill and provided with a company-owned house. The northern businessmen who invested in southern mills liked the idea of keeping the families together in order to gain a loyal workforce that would work at the mill for generations. The communities were called mill villages.
The owners collected rent from the workers; the amount of rent was sometimes determined by how many family members worked in the mill. During the 1880s, widows with children, assured of decent housing, arrived at the mills in large numbers. By the early 1900s, there was a migration from farm to the mill in Georgia. In 1890, men accounted for 37 percent of textile mill workers, women 39 percent, and children 24 percent.
By 1908 the Bibb Manufacturing Company of Macon (one of the mill villages I toured) was operating seven mills that produced a variety of cotton products, including hosiery, carpet yarn, twine, spooled cotton, and tire fabric for the budding automobile industry. By 1910, Georgia's 116 mills employed more than 27,000 people, many living in company housing.
But don’t be fooled thinking it was good money and easy work. They worked 12-hour days, children included. The fiber-filled air caused all manner of lung disease. Georgia children often worked barefoot, and every week, therewere accidents where little ones lost limbs—if not their lives—by being sucked into one of the machines. Most accidents happened in the morning, when they were still sleepy.
Because of this, northern textile mill owners saw a cheap source of labor in the South. The Fulton Cotton and Bag Mills in Atlanta was built in 1868.
Entire families were employed at the mill and provided with a company-owned house. The northern businessmen who invested in southern mills liked the idea of keeping the families together in order to gain a loyal workforce that would work at the mill for generations. The communities were called mill villages.
The owners collected rent from the workers; the amount of rent was sometimes determined by how many family members worked in the mill. During the 1880s, widows with children, assured of decent housing, arrived at the mills in large numbers. By the early 1900s, there was a migration from farm to the mill in Georgia. In 1890, men accounted for 37 percent of textile mill workers, women 39 percent, and children 24 percent.
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| Bibb Manufacturing Company Mill, Macon GA Source:https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/bibb-manufacturing-company |
By 1908 the Bibb Manufacturing Company of Macon (one of the mill villages I toured) was operating seven mills that produced a variety of cotton products, including hosiery, carpet yarn, twine, spooled cotton, and tire fabric for the budding automobile industry. By 1910, Georgia's 116 mills employed more than 27,000 people, many living in company housing.
But don’t be fooled thinking it was good money and easy work. They worked 12-hour days, children included. The fiber-filled air caused all manner of lung disease. Georgia children often worked barefoot, and every week, therewere accidents where little ones lost limbs—if not their lives—by being sucked into one of the machines. Most accidents happened in the morning, when they were still sleepy.
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| Some boys and girls were so small, they had to climb up on to the spinning frame to mend broken threads and to put back the empty bobbins. Source: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/523148 |
The noise level in a textile mill is deafening—so loud, a person could put his mouth next to your ear and scream, and you wouldn’t hear him. Workers learned to lip-read. Every day after work, you would see them walking down the street, chattering away, but not uttering a sound
And yet ...
In all my research, I found a sense of community in the mill villages from the people I interviewed. They worked in the mills in the 1940s. My book is set in early 1930, so I had to rely on historians for conditions. By the mid-to-late-thirties, things got better. By 1940, child labor laws were in force, and in October of 1940 the Fair Labor Standards Act went into effect, making life a little easier on the mill worker. For the children, there were community swimming pools, free music lessons, special field trips for the children, ball teams, choirs, and more.
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| An example of the inexpensive housing built by the mill for workers and their families. (Industrial Index, March 12, 1924) Source: https://archives.columbusstate.edu/digital_collections/bibb_city.php |
Ane Mulligan has been a voracious reader since her mom instilled within her a love of reading at age three, but when she saw PETER PAN on stage, Ane was struck with a fever and never recovered—stage fever. One day, these loves collided, and a bestselling, award-winning novelist emerged.
Welcome to the blog, and thanks for the post. My father worked in a woolen mill for a lot of his life, going back and forth from other jobs he tried. I guess the wool dust got into his veins!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Connie. My husband worked in woolen mills in England as a young man, before he immigrated here. What state was the mill he worked in?
DeleteVermont.
DeleteAurora , Illinois has a lot of row houses. Blocks of homes built exactly alike for factory workers families. A variety of thriving factories once graced the landscape of Aurora. By the time I moved here in the 1970's most row house were privately owned. Factories no longer provided housing. Eventually many of the factories closed. The buildings were either torn down or converted to a different use. This was a fascinating post. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to your upcoming novel.
ReplyDeleteThank you! By the late 1940s most of the Georgia mill houses were sold to the mill workers. There's a group on Facebook whose members all lived in one village in the Macon, GA area.
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