3 Review(s)

This is a compelling portrait of life in a Southern Piedmont mill village after the Great Depression.Morland's skill as an oral historian and his respect for blue-collar subjects allow him to describe the cotton mill workers of York as sympathetic, three-dimensional human beings, something a bit more than even their insular white neighbors in the town of York would have classified them as. As Morland discovered, the segregation of poor white mill workers from the existing town of York mirrored the experiences of the early waves of European immigrants into American cities.The plight of the working families in the mill village, their daily joys and disappointments, and the governing call of the mill whistle are all brought vibrantly to life through Morland's words, creating a powerfully detailed snapshot of an American subculture that no longer exists. Huntley's new introduction assesses the lasting importance of Morland's telling case study. The volume is further supplemented with a 2002 interview with Morland and his wife detailing their experiences with the ""Kent"" research and including photographs from the period.