Voices From The Paterson Silk Mills

Teenage immigrants with no money, but a skill in weaving wool were lured by the Amer. ideal of success and religious tolerance. 100s of young Jewish weavers arrived in Silk City, Paterson, NJ to begin their new lives. This vol. follows their struggles making their way in the silk mills. It begins with their intro. to weaving in the sweatshops of Poland and continues with their arrival in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th cent. and the rise of many of them to affluence. The weavers tell about arguments with their bosses and sacrifices made. Mill owners speak about problems at the mill and the complex social structure in which they moved. The Great Depression and the intro. of synthetic fibers forced the decline of Paterson as the glamour city of American textiles. 50 images.