Browse Items (1402 total)

The full title of this photograph is "Three international pickers in a cotton field on Hopson Plantation, Mississippi Delta." It was taken by a photographer on contract with the Farm Services Administration, documenting agricultural practices and…

The full title of this photograph is "Day laborers carrying sack of cotton from field to cotton house to be weighed, Marcella Plantation, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi." It was taken by a photographer hired by the Farm Security Administration during…

Two maps from an historical atlas show the rise of a southern textile industry, especially during the early 20th century. By 1926, the long-dominant New England region of textile manufactures was about even with the south; in another twenty years it…

Map illustrates US Census data as to cotton production per square mile. As of this time, the "Cotton Kingdom" of Frederick Law Olmstead's 1861 book still is similar in its geographical extent. In the decades ahead production would shift westward to…

This advertisement announces the opening of an unusual recreation venue. Beginning with its construction in 1917, a Ford dealership and garage had been located on Covington St., but by the late 1930s was planning to locate.In 1940 the Perry Rotary…

This simplified chart from US Census data shows how dramatically the location of cotton manufacturing in the US shifted from New England to the Southern states. There were several causes, including proximity to cotton fields, newer machinery, and…

This graph shows dramatic effects caused by the globalization of manufacturing over the last few decades. While virtually all US sectors have suffered, it has been by far the worst in the textiles and apparel industry--with 70% and 85% job loss,…

Chart created by the US Department of Agriculture shows county-level production of the more widely grown "upland cotton" variety. Although much of the old "Cotton Kingdom" of the antebellum south still produces this commodity, Texas has supplanted…

This graphic illustrates the product life cycle of the global clothing economy. It appears in a report created for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future. Among the report's important points: virtually no…

Since World War II, the percentage of clothing that is made from plastics (such as polyester and rayon) has increased dramatically. As of 2016, approximately two-thirds of the fiber used is some form of plastic. This chart shows the relative…