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Honoring Their Memory Textile Heritage Week 2008

To remember those who once carded, spun and wove the fabric that clothed our country, the second annual Textile Heritage Week will be celebrated from October 4th through October 12th, 2008.

lilidoun millA little more than forty years ago, eighty percent of U.S. corporate profits came from manufacturing. Since then, hundreds of thousands of textile jobs have been lost to low wage countries. Many who grew up in the South’s textile towns and mill villages believe that a shortsighted, fatal error.

A rich legacy in need of preservation exists in the South’s small textile communities that grew up alongside the mills. A unique culture flourished on these mill hills where neighbors looked after one another, individual families worked hard to get ahead and mill owners plowed a portion of their profits back to improve recreation, education and social life.

Too many of the stories from this time are being lost as our elders pass away. Too many of these mill communities have been neglected by absentee landlords. Too many mills are decaying or being dismantled for their brick and lumber. Too few of these historic sites along rivers are being rescued for public enjoyment.

There is much to be learned from this history. The values and traditions of the South’s cotton mill people must not disappear with the industry. The lives of our ancestors, whose hard work transformed this region, must be remembered. We must not allow this heritage to be sidelined as a set of past economic statistics or reduced to a few photos of child laborers.

Join us in becoming a link in the chain of memory. Ask your town, city, school board and county officials to proclaim the first week of every October as Textile Heritage Week.

Ask a local teacher to invite an old-timer to come and share their memories with their students. Put on some work gloves and reclaim your local mill hill cemetery to honor the hard-working people.

For more information contact the Textile Heritage Center Initiative@TextileHeritage.org or write us at PO Box 667 Cooleemee NC 27014 or call us at (336) 284-6040.

Textile Heritage Week celebrations - 2008

 

In Shelby, North Carolina

October 4th

Textile Heritage Day & City Park Anniversary  www.cityofshelby.com/govt/dept_parks_rec/Anniversary2008.php

 

 

In Alamance County, North Carolina

www.visitalamance.com/events/default.asp?eid=4581&cat=58

 

Saturday, Oct. 4
Glencoe - Textile Heritage Museum
"Preserving Sacred Ground" Exhibit 
or

www.textileheritagemuseum.org



                                   Glencoe - Rockworth Studio Fiber Art Demonstration, Glencoe Mill Village,12 - 2 pm 

                                  Glencoe - Front Porch Pick'n on the porch at Textile Heritage Museum   12:30 - 4 pm


Graham - Court Square 9am-5pm
First Annual Cook-Off & Car Show w/ Band of Oz

Burlington - Hospice Arts at the Village Outlets

Sunday, October 5
Haw River - Highway 49 Bridge Put-In
1:00pm Ann Hobgood - Mill History Discussion
1:30pm-4:30pm Paddle to Swepsonville

Monday, October 6
Burlington - Historical Lecture by Dr. Bill Vincent
May Memorial Library

Tuesday, October 7
Graham - Alamance Arts Council 6-8pm
Fhyne Whyne Concert & Mill Painting Exhibit

Saturday, October 11
Saxapahaw - 4-8pm Homecoming / Band Paperhand Puppets show at Benjamin Vineyards
Glencoe - Glencoe County Park Opening

 

 

In Huntersville, North Carolina

 

10 a.m., Thursday, October 9, 2008

Ceremony at Raymer Funeral Home

Corner of Sam Furr Road & Old Statesville Road

Info contact B.J. Caldwell at beecaldy@aol.com

 

 

In Greenville, South Carolina

 

October 4 – Celebration and Festival at the Upcountry History Museum with

       Food, Music, Displays, Tours and Story-telling…                

      10 AM – 4 PM

Kay Crowe, Back Porch Gang and Textile Heritage Band in Concert.

 

October 5 – Spiritual Emphasis Day at the Emmanuel Baptist Church. Great Gospel

Music, fellowship and dinner on the grounds.

 

More information: dhark1@charter.net

 

 

In Cooleemee, North Carolina

 

“Honoring Sacred Ground”

10 a.m. – Friday, October 10

Legion Memorial CemeteryNC Highway 801

Join Cooleemee Elementary School’s 5th graders

Who will hear elders’ stories and form a

“Circle of Memory”

In Durham, North Carolina
Saturday, October 11th,  4-6 pm 
"West Fest": Commemorating Textile Heritage Week
West Knox (between Oakland & Alabama Streets)
Meet old friends and neighbors.  Music.  Bring a side-dish to share pot-luck.


In Concord, North Carolina

 "CONCORD'S TEXTILE HERITAGE"
Special exhibit at The Concord Museum
Tuesday, October 7-Saturday, November 15, 2008
 
"TEXTILES IN CABARRUS COUNTY: THE EARLY YEARS"
Guest lecture by Catawba College history professor Gary Freeze
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
7:00 PM-8:30 PM
 
"REMEMBERING KERR BLEACHERY: 30 YEARS LATER"
Special program with former Kerr Bleachery managers and employees
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
7:00 PM-8:30 PM
 
All events take place at the Concord Museum, 11 Union St. S, Suite 104, downtown Concord, NC 28025.  For more information,
please call the Museum at 704-782-3688. More info visit Historic Cabarrus Association at www.historiccabarrus.org

 


The Southwide Textile Heritage Initiative is a grass-roots movement of individuals & groups working to save this history and heritage while we still can. Find out more -Textile Heritage Center, Box 667, Cooleemee NC 27014
(336) 284-6040     initiative@textileheritage.org

 


Click here for a
 Map of Cooleemee  

Learn about the Textile Heritage Initiative

Share your Story at Saving the Stories

Keep In Touch at Join Us

More about Historic Cooleemee, NC

Last modified 12/02/2008


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