At Work in the Mill – 5
Weave Room Crews – 1953
One
1st row (L to R): Hugh Blanton, Jay Dobbins, Gaston Bailey, Clarence Randolph.
2nd row: Robie Matheny, Homer Surratt, Jr., ?, George Hill.
3rd row: Edith Bailey, Archie Humphries, William Arrowood, Dick Beason.
4th row: ?, ?, ?, Dick Blanton, ?, Slim Harrill, ?, Byron Bailey.
Two
1st row (L to R): Byron Bailey, Millie McCraw, Lily Bailey, Gertrude Abernathy Walker, Virginia Daggerhart Sarratt, Guynita Hamrick.
2nd row: Mabel Whitaker Randolph, Louise McClooney, Naomi Norville, ?.
3rd row: Clyde Jackson, Ervin Humphries, T.C. Smith, Buren Hamrick, Jim Humphries, ?.
4th row: Archie “Bony” Crocker, ?.
Three
1st row (L to R): D.D. Goode, Jr., Bobby Hill, Lillie Ree (Mrs. Lloyd) Humphries, Melita “Tildy” Jolley, Lucille Huskey, Mrs. Adair.
2nd row: Noyce Padgett, Jr., Roy Biggerstaff, Perry Mahaffee, ?, Serle Jones, Virginia “Ginny” Robinson Earls, Lorene Bailey Beason.
3rd row: Dan Scruggs, Broadus Hamrick, Roy Horton, Harrison Arrowood, Oxie Earls Harris.
Four
1st row (L to R): “Tiny” Scruggs, Edith Tate Mintz, Rena Humphries, Ruby Huskey, Larine “Susie” Earls Conner.
2nd row: ?, Marvin “Whit” Whitaker, ?, Aster Harris, Lewis Jefferson Hicks, Ralph Taylor.
3rd row: Boss Scruggs , Broadus Norville, Horace White.
No, those spooky-looking machines in the background aren’t from Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, they are Jacquard looms. They were programmed, not unlike a player piano, using sections of large punch cards strung together, to weave intricate patterns in terry cloth products.