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This workshop is included in a DAY PASS or FULL WEEKEND PASS as part of Fiber & Folk Weekend. Please use the link below to purchase a pass. With your pass, you’ll be able to register for this workshop and others with no additional cost.
The History & Future of American Mills
An evening gathering & moderated discussion with Kathleen Williams
In this presentation, I give a crash-course in the chronological history of American textile mills, from the first water-powered mills in New England in the 1790s,, to the offshoring movement of the 1980s-2000s, to our country’s current ambivalence between revitalizing blue collar jobs and searching for equity and environmental safety in industry.
American industrial textile milling has changed the physical and cultural landscapes of the country in ways still felt today. Many of the towns we live in were literally built by mills; mill workers have been at the forefront of labor rights movements; and the binary code of computers is based on Jacquard weaving patterns.
We find ourselves now at so many crossroads with textile mills. We yarn enthusiasts might enter a historic mill and feel mystified, excited by the skill of millworkers and the machines. Yet we also know that our lives and our ancestors' lives have been impacted by the toxicity and labor danger of industrial mills. Where do we go from here?
Speaker Bio: Kathleen Williams
Kathleen Williams is a farmer, musician, and an aspiring textile-agriculture historian. She lives in Durham, NC.
