Silk Mill
At the turn of the 20th century silk weaving was the economic driver of Eastern Pennsylvania. By 1929, there were more than 50 silk mills in the city of Allentown. The industry’s laborers, mostly Pennsylvania Germans flocked to the silk factories for work. I arrived in Allentown in 1980, fresh from my documentary work in Japan. In 1981, I gained access to an industrial icon of the city, the last remaining silk mill, the Catoir. Its workers, men and women, had been laboring in mills since they were adolescents. At the time of these photographs they’d devoted their lives to silk weaving and were 60, 70 even 80 years old. The last of their kind, the Catoir’s weavers, pickers, warpers and machinists were a proud and highly skilled staff. The photographs comprising Silk Mill, were taken between 1981-82. Both the mill family and workers understood the significance of the documentation. The Catoir closed its doors essentially ending this chapter in the region’s textile industry in 1989.
At left: Martha Capwell, proprietor’s daughter with the Mill’s pride silk flag, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1981.