Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World

By Jim Leloudis
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Project Summary

This web site is based on the award-winning book, Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World (University of North Carolina Press, 1987 and 2000). The site is divided into three sections: “Life on the Land,” “Mill, Village, and Factory,” and “Work and Protest.” In each section, visitors can read a historical overview of the issues addressed, view photographs, listen to audio clips of interviews with mill workers, and access ideas for lesson plans based on the unit. A links page leads viewers to the archival collections used for Like a Family, resources on oral history and its use in the classroom, and other sites that explore the history of the textile industry.

Contents

Biography

Reflective Essay

Overview
Orientation page for the project, which focuses on the evolution of Piedmont mill towns presented in Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987)

Life on the Land: Traces the change from subsistence farming of the 1850s to the mill towns of the 1900s.

Introduction

Images

Interviews

Teaching

Mill Village and Factory: Discusses the mechanics of a factory and the mill employees work experiences and living conditions

Introduction

Images

Interviews

Teaching

Work and Protest: Covers three protests from the 1920s and 1930s

Introduction

Images

Interviews

Teaching

The preceding three pages all include internal links to relevant images, interviews, and teaching plans. Audio interview files are available in the Southern Oral History Program Interview Database.