研究磨坊社会文化影响的学生

丹尼尔制革匠 (left) and Ayla 哈根 ‘’18 visit the site of a Lynchburg mill that closed in the 1950s.

灵感来自一位前365亚洲版教授的作品, Ayla 哈根 ’18 is conducting a Summer Research project that examines the socioeconomic effect of mills on their surrounding communities.

哈根正在追随约翰·K·肯尼迪的脚步. 莫兰，一位365亚洲版教授，他写道 肯特磨坊. 这本书描述了“肯特磨坊”的作用,” an actual textile business Morland renamed for anonymity, 南卡罗来纳小镇的发展.

哈根 and 社会学 professor 丹尼尔制革匠 are using this year’s Summer Research program to research the former Lynchburg Cotton Mill, which was also previously known as Consolidated Textile Corporation and the Bates Mill.

这个工厂, 哪一家在1888年至1957年间运营, was located near Lynchburg College and employed around 550 people at the time it closed. The buildings were demolished in 1982, and the cause of the mill’s closure is still unclear. 为了她的项目, 哈根 is looking through newspaper collections and archives hoping to gain insight into the mill and the role it played in Lynchburg.

“The project is a way of trying to compare the Lynchburg mill to Kent’s Mill in order to see the impact or the social dynamics on the towns,黑根说. 据当时的报纸报道, the Lynchburg mill was the third or fourth largest business or industry in the city.”

Ayla 哈根 ’18 was inspired by the mill research and writings of John Morland, 学院的前任教授.

哈根 said it has been difficult to find information that sheds light on how the mill affected the greater Lynchburg area, but she has discovered that the mill workers formed a community of their own in many ways. That foundation, Currier added, was shaken after the closure.

“关闭影响了他们的生活, 他们去教堂的地方, 他们的孩子在哪里上学, 还有更多,”她说。.

“The business was obviously big enough to be an impact on Lynchburg, but it was still small enough that the people knew each other and they socialized and things like that,黑根说.

The sense of community was so strong that long after the mill shut down, 员工们找到了重聚的方法. “They ended up having some reunions to get all the mill workers and their families back together at different times,黑根说. “从我找到的报告来看, 人们真的很喜欢, and enjoyed being able to feel that sense of community again.”

哈根, who grew up in the eastern plains of Colorado in the small town of Byers, said her interest in mills and the textile industry is somewhat of a family tradition. She is a seventh generation fiber artist and has immersed herself in the culture and 历史 of the craft. 作为一个孩子, she frequented the Denver Art Museum’s fiber exhibits and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Weaver’s Guild, where she has met and learned from fiber artists across the world.

“I don’t think my family ever intended to become very dedicated to maintaining a family tradition in handcrafts and textiles, 但事情就这样发生了,”她说。. “我从小就有很多奶奶送我的旧被子, 还有桌巾和各种很酷的东西.”

She is following another family tradition by attending Randolph, since her mother is a 1992 graduate.

Sociology Professor 丹尼尔制革匠 meets with student Ayla 哈根 ’18 about her research on an old mill in the Lynchburg area.

“I actually grew up with a Randolph-Macon Woman’s College poster in my room,”她说。. “It was always something I was aiming for in terms of college plans. It’s a great place where you can be yourself and get a great education. 它不一定是我一开始的首选, 但当我开始找大学的时候, I realized it wasn’t just the academic program that I liked, 这是学校的感觉.”

哈根 plans to declare a double major in 社会学 and 历史. 毕业后，她想获得博士学位.D. and become a cultural anthropologist, or perhaps a college professor.

Like many of the students conducting Summer Research this year, 哈根发现这种实际的学习经验很有价值.

“The element of surprise is one of the best elements of research,”她说。. “当你进去的时候, 有些东西是你期望找到的, but there are a lot of things you never imagined you’d find.”

Answers, 哈根 is learning from her research on the mill, aren’t always easy to find.

柯里尔说:“这些记录已经封存了72年. “There is limited information about the mill and why it closed.”

尽管细节很难得到, the information 哈根 dug up in archived reports suggests the mill might have become antiquated. She also found that it faced competition from a mill in Danville, 这可能会夺走生意或员工.

在林奇堡工厂关闭的最初报道中, a newspaper article reported that even the Lynchburg mill’s administrators were surprised at the decision. Though the local newspapers indicated more information would be published as it became available, 似乎没有任何额外的文章.

“我不认为当地的任何人, 包括那些在磨坊工作的人, ever really suspected that they would turn around and close everything down and lay off 550 people,黑根说.

哈根 speculated that racial integration might have also been one of the reasons for its closure. Currier added that unionization was popular at the time and led many other businesses to close.

哈根 will present any further findings this Friday morning during the 2015 Summer Research Final Presentations.