hanging by a thread
A hundred people, a hundred years, what's that amount to in the calculus of life? Ten thousand human years. Three million six hundred thousand days. But wait, they were married, they had children. Fourteen million days, conservatively, in the shadow of Monticello, on the south bank of the Rivanna, working, working, working.
And who were these people? What were their names? Why were they here?
No one cares.
Andy Myers cares.
God bless Andy Myers. Godspeed Andy Myers.
The Charlottesville Woolen Mills: Working Life, Wartime, and the Walkout of 1918
Andrew H. Myers
Labels: Woolen Mills Village
posted by emory at 1:22 AM
1 Comments:
Working, working, working... single-minded dedication to goal, to family, to area. Marchant and his workers weren't flashy people. No bling in our 'hood-- just wool, sweat, and a whole lot of hope for the future.
Check out the newspapers of that time and see how the accomplishments of Marchant and his folks were trumpeted far and wide. Our city sure loved the Woolen Mills then! Now the neighborhood is currently targeted for upzoning-- industrial and higher-density development. The green spaces and rural nature that we value so dearly, and that have always defined us, are under attack.
How fitting that the enormous contribution made by these humble people to Charlottesville, and the state of Virginia, can finally be recognized again. Let the people of the Woolen Mills speak. They have something very important to say to all of us. But somebody needs to listen.
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