{
  "slug": "cheney-silk-mills",
  "title": "Manchester’s Silk City: The Cheney Mills",
  "towns": [
    "Manchester"
  ],
  "counties": [
    "Hartford"
  ],
  "dateRange": "1855–1990s",
  "topic": "Industry & labor",
  "summary": "Lewis Hine’s 1924 photographs open a window onto the people and machinery behind Manchester’s silk industry and its transformation into a preserved mill district.",
  "history": [
    {
      "heading": "Silk becomes a town-making industry",
      "text": "The Cheney business began before this collection’s main period, but incorporation in 1855 marked a new stage in its growth. The mills helped turn South Manchester into a major textile center, drawing employees from the United States and Europe. Silk manufacture connected the town to supplies and markets far beyond Connecticut. The company’s buildings, housing and institutions made the industry part of residents’ daily surroundings, not simply a place where they worked.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-home",
        "cheney-history"
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Inside the mills with Lewis Hine",
      "text": "In 1924 Lewis Hine photographed the Cheney mills for the National Child Labor Committee. The Library of Congress preserves a series cataloged under the historical heading “Favorable working conditions.” The images include young workers, machinery and shop-floor spaces. That wording is part of the original documentation, not a blanket judgment by this archive. Hine’s photographs allow readers to examine the working environment closely while remembering that a camera records a selected instant and cannot by itself establish wages, hours or every worker’s experience.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-hine",
        "cheney-hine2"
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Prosperity, decline and reinvention",
      "text": "By the early 1920s the mills employed about 4,700 people. After the 1923 peak, changing fashions, synthetic fibers and the Depression eroded the silk business. Reorganization in 1935 and wartime production gave the company a further chapter, including nylon parachutes. The Cheney family sold the business to J.P. Stevens in 1955. The last remaining textile operation, the Velvet Mill, closed in 1984. These changes unfolded over decades rather than as a single sudden end.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-history"
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Preserving an industrial neighborhood",
      "text": "The mill area became a National Historic Landmark District in 1978. During the 1980s and 1990s, many mill buildings were adapted for apartments. Preservation here therefore involved reuse of a large working landscape, not only the protection of one commemorative building. Reading photographs of people and machinery alongside the surviving architecture restores some of the human scale of the district. Its importance lies in the relationship among production, residence, company influence and the workers whose skill made the finished textiles possible.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-history",
        "cheney-commission",
        "cheney-hine"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "timeline": [
    {
      "date": "1855",
      "event": "Cheney Brothers incorporates as a silk manufacturing company.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-home"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "1924",
      "event": "Lewis Hine photographs workers and machinery in the mills.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-hine"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "1955",
      "event": "The Cheney family sells the company to J.P. Stevens.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-history"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "1978",
      "event": "The mill district receives National Historic Landmark designation.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-history"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "1984",
      "event": "The Velvet Mill, the final textile operation, closes.",
      "source_ids": [
        "cheney-history"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "cheney-home",
      "title": "Manchester Historical Society: Cheney family and enterprise",
      "url": "https://cdn.manchesterhistory.org/reprints/MHS3_CheneyHome.html"
    },
    {
      "id": "cheney-history",
      "title": "Manchester Historical Society: The Cheney Silk Mills",
      "url": "https://manchesterhistory.org/the-cheney-silk-mills/"
    },
    {
      "id": "cheney-hine",
      "title": "Library of Congress: Lewis Hine at Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "url": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018678704/"
    },
    {
      "id": "cheney-hine2",
      "title": "Library of Congress: Young worker beside a mill wagon, 1924",
      "url": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677852/"
    },
    {
      "id": "cheney-commission",
      "title": "Town of Manchester: Cheney district preservation",
      "url": "https://www.manchesterct.gov/Government/Town-Leadership/Boards-Commissions-Committees/Cheney-Brothers-National-Historic-Landmark-District-Commission"
    }
  ],
  "images": [
    {
      "id": "cc8a12dc8bb5a8cce385",
      "image": "/county-images/aa955d9a5a4a3111ecaa55ceab802b4113938bd07fbb2becbb7d09df54a9bdda.jpg",
      "title": "Young worker beside a wagon at the Cheney mills",
      "alt": "Young worker beside a wagon at the Cheney mills — 1924.",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677852/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677852/",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions. [Young girl worker at Cheney Silk Mills, leaning on scrap metal wagon, S. Manchester, Conn.] (No. 5002).  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
      "originalImage": "https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03161v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "d4162538fa4a11583b5c",
      "image": "/county-images/01ce053caa9a908ddab38c142fb02021a1cd300d5f4bab22afcf2e3e27958caa.jpg",
      "title": "Portrait of a young Cheney mill worker",
      "alt": "Portrait of a young Cheney mill worker, Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018675239/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018675239/",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
      "originalImage": "https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03129v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "f46903e96fdf4f9daf51",
      "image": "/county-images/5abbce9ba0b6162a352a6a9d856a67fd84d9007aaa1a155cc5434fbf5439ba3d.jpg",
      "title": "Cheney mill workers and machinery, view 3",
      "alt": "Cheney mill workers and machinery, view 3 — 1924.",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018678704/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018678704/",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut].",
      "originalImage": "https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03134v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "ea4b90df7231abeabed2",
      "image": "/county-images/585495683ec0db378465c07edca64c3256bf0a819c82210a2d97d2709ce86dcd.jpg",
      "title": "Worker seated at a textile inspection table",
      "alt": "Worker seated at a textile inspection table, Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677840/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677840/",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03151v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "aa8990bfb64ca5e902d7",
      "image": "/county-images/8776879ea973ab9e842ba224449d945359e4609028f207474528feb098af0dac.jpg",
      "title": "Worker at a lighted textile inspection table",
      "alt": "Worker at a lighted textile inspection table, Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677836/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677836/",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut].",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03147v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "24045b8acc9d9f78a0cf",
      "image": "/county-images/b40ca72fdd10afafbc0f7981685d10efbc6512b8863ac391535301de4681c86d.jpg",
      "title": "Portrait at a textile inspection table",
      "alt": "Portrait at a textile inspection table, Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677842/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677842/",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03153v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "4d7dbf670737300f4d91",
      "image": "/county-images/646b168f2824e9bf4b93456fe2f50aa8246f1c63cdb6dd7cb9d158268f128efe.jpg",
      "title": "Young worker with spools in the background",
      "alt": "Young worker with spools in the background, Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018678705/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018678705/",
      "kind": "photograph",
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      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
      "originalImage": "https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03135v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "8c9edddcaba6d5dacbb7",
      "image": "/county-images/34072d988687b08936b8af66f6d86acd47c196377eb647b3a4eec02f0614c7c3.jpg",
      "title": "Examining fabric at a lighted table",
      "alt": "Examining fabric at a lighted table, Cheney Silk Mills, 1924",
      "date": "1924.",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677838/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions (repository advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018677838/",
      "kind": "photograph",
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      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
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    },
    {
      "id": "caed8d71baa5cfadd2eb",
      "image": "/county-images/9dc48317b63daeefd4a141b40532194096e6b1bb9ec7a23f058f6d30d2ab0f35.jpg",
      "title": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677841",
      "alt": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677841",
      "date": "1924",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/item/2018677841/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions on publication (Library of Congress advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut].",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03152v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "8913159a0468d22b9538",
      "image": "/county-images/667690410f5ab6aa22509a0f0fcb811118fcc4106b0436fc96eef60d034623f3.jpg",
      "title": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677837",
      "alt": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677837",
      "date": "1924",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/item/2018677837/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions on publication (Library of Congress advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut].",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03148v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "51e0773ab924b4fddc3d",
      "image": "/county-images/2bfda79285332da8cd63bdf1f5100b61857e0adb98c6cd5d8084277c6dafb97e.jpg",
      "title": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677839",
      "alt": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677839",
      "date": "1924",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/item/2018677839/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions on publication (Library of Congress advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut].",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03150v.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "99ea61b48816c8e3ef90",
      "image": "/county-images/251cf44a89adc38155b27939045bf5d376162c73da7ef9868d627dae418ead12.jpg",
      "title": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677835",
      "alt": "Cheney Silk Mills — Hine photograph 2018677835",
      "date": "1924",
      "credit": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940 / National Child Labor Committee collection, Library of Congress",
      "creator": "Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940",
      "source": "https://www.loc.gov/item/2018677835/",
      "rights": "No known restrictions on publication. For information see: \"National Child Labor Committee (Lewis Hine photographs),\" https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "license": "No known restrictions on publication (Library of Congress advisory)",
      "licenseUrl": "https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/res.097.hine",
      "kind": "photograph",
      "later": false,
      "originalCaption": "Cheney Silk Mills. Favorable working conditions.  Location: [South Manchester, Connecticut]",
      "originalImage": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/pnp/nclc/03100/03146v.jpg"
    }
  ]
}