THE RUN OF THE MILL

by Steve Dunwell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 5, 1978

Dunwell portrays the full run of New England's textile industry from start to memory. Born in the late 18th century, the new industry flourished through optimistic experiments in capitalism, including model ""utopian"" workers' communities such as Lowell, Massachusetts. But the increasingly sophisticated machines that made it all possible (profusely illustrated in fascinating old drawings and plans) served the owners' profit motive, pushed workers past endurance, and made duplication easy elsewhere. In the 20th century, problems of labor agitation, obsolete equipment, heavy competition from the South, and the indifference of hereditary mill-owners combine to pare down the industry to the bones, leaving behind abandoned buildings, a class of industrial workers now unemployed, and (with a few notable recycled exceptions) depressed and ghostly towns. Dunwell retells this sad story of rise and fall in the first section of the book, then explores the ""legacy"" of the mills in his own memorable photographs of the milltowns today and their people--in the remaining mills, in their homes, or (especially the young people) just hanging out--and in the words of his subjects: ""I come up in the mill"". . . ""I hope I never work again, period"". . . ""All my life, my whole object was to make a piece of cloth that was perfect. . . ."" This is a more ambitious book than Hareven's Amoskeag (below)--more diverse, evocative, and beautiful. Together, good prose and powerful image--250 historical illustrations and 105 telling Dunwell photos--provide glimpses of towns and people picking up the check for an American dream skipped out. An important and moving document.

Pub Date: Dec. 5, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Godine

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION