CVHS Program to Highlight Mill Village Life
The
Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society will hold its fall quarterly meeting on
October 21, at the Bradshaw Library in Valley, Alabama, begining at 3:00 pm ET. Featured speaker Rhonda Baldwin of Randolph
County will present “Life and Labor on the Handley Lowell Mill Village: 1901 –
1972.” In her power-point presentation,
Baldwin uses historical photographs, music, poetry and stories to recapture the
unique character that once defined the Alabama mill village.
What began
as a Master’s thesis while earning her graduate degree in History at
Jacksonville State University, her research of more than one hundred interviews
provided a springboard for her book, “Small Things Forgotten”, with sales in
excess of 300 copies to date. Baldwin
explains, “I chose that title because the workers being interviewed always
said, ‘I don’t know anything you’d want to write about’. I would respond that it is the small things
that make a good story. Then, they began
pouring out their stories with a gleam in their eyes and, sometimes,
tears. I sat on many front porches in
the hot summer heat of Randolph County and came to love these people and
appreciate their contribution to our community, which is sometimes overlooked.”
Baldwin
will examine the dramatic changes that factory workers encountered as they left
their farmsteads and moved to the mill village seeking work, as well as the
creative ways in which they coped with their challenges. Photographs abound in her power-point
presentation, a historical collage of the many facets of life in the Lowell
Mill village.
CVHS President Mac Holderfield believes
Baldwin’s topic will resonate with the Valley audience. “Ms. Baldwin has a passion for local history,
and most especially, for the mill workers of Lowell Mill Village. Our shared textile heritage makes this a
program that Valley folks are sure to enjoy. History buffs will appreciate the descriptive
first-hand accounts from which Ms. Baldwin based her research.”
A graduate
of Handley High School, Baldwin now teaches history at her alma mater. She and her husband live in Wadley, Alabama,
where they raise cows and corn. A member
of the Randolph County Historical Museum and the Chattahoochee Valley
Historical Society, Baldwin recently delivered a lecture based upon her book to
the Alabama Historical Association.
Following the presentation,
those attending will have an opportunity to purchase a signed copy of “Small
Things Forgotten” for $20.00.
As always, the public is invited
to attend and there is no charge. The
Bradshaw Library is located on Highway 29 in Valley, Alabama, approximately one
mile south of I-85 Exit 79. For
additional information on the historical society, including membership and
donation opportunities, visit the organization’s website at
www.cvhistoricalsociety.org.
