News & Events

“Woven Together” – Historical Exhibit on Marion Manufacturing to Open at UNC Asheville

May 21, 2012

"Woven Together: Marion Manufacturing and McDowell County," a Western North Carolina traveling exhibition telling the story of the Marion Manufacturing textile mill, will open on June 4 in Blowers Gallery in UNC Asheville's Ramsey Library.

Marion Manufacturing employed more than 600 people in the 1920s, and was integral to most aspects of life in the mill village where many workers lived. Employees staged a strike in 1929 that made headlines all over the country when six union members were killed by sheriff's deputies at the mill gates. The exhibition shows the mill's growth and relationship with the community, the bitter strike, prosperous years after World War II, and the unsuccessful struggle against lower-priced imports that eventually led to decline and closing.

"Woven Together: Marion Manufacturing and McDowell County," is free and open to the public through August 6, whenever Ramsey Library is open. The library calendar is available online here. For more information, call 828.251.6436.