Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1860s-1995 (bulk 1920-1960)

Collection Number: 05793

Collection Title: Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1860s-1995 (bulk 1920-1960)

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	204.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 160,000 items)
Abstract	Administrative records of Dan River Mills, Inc., of Danville, Va., include business correspondence of the mill's presidents H.R. Fitzgerald, Robert West, and George Harris; financial records; annual reports; newsletters; and photographs. There are materials about the 1951 and 1974 strikes at the mill; fashion shows; advertising; mill housing; and other topics.
Creator	Dan River Mills Inc.
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use: No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice: Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the Dan River Mills, Inc., Records #5793, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Received from Dana Reagan in May 2019 (Acc. 103607) and the Schoolfield Preservation Foundation in September 2019 (Acc. 103712).

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Jackie Dean, Amy Morgan, Biff Hollingsworth, Dawne Lucas, and Becca Stubbs, June 2019

Encoded by: Laura Smith, July 2019

Revisions by: Nancy Kaiser and Patrick Cullom, October 2019

In 2019, volunteers from the Schoolfield Museum reviewed the boxes in the Dan River Mills, Inc., archive. Based on guidelines provided by the Southern Historical Collection curatorial staff, they selected materials for transfer to Wilson Library and they compiled description for the materials being transferred. Their descriptions can be found in Box 1a and were used as a basis for the box listing in this finding aid. Boxes have been numbered at the repository to accommodate shelving and retrieval, however, the original archival box numbers have been retained in this box list.

Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Dan River Mills was established at Riverside Cotton Mills in 1882 in Danville, Va. Riverside Cotton Mills merged with the Dan River Power and Manufacturing Company in 1895. In the late 1800s, Dan River was the largest textile mill in the South. The mill developed a mill village for its workers known as Schoolfield which was annexed by the city of Danville in 1951. Dan River Mills went into chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004 and was sold in 2006 to Gujarat Heavy Chemicals. The mill was closed and the mill building was imploded in 2008.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Administrative records of Dan River Mills, Inc., include business correspondence of the mill's presidents H.R. Fitzgerald, Robert West, and George Harris; financial records; annual reports; newsletters; and photographs. There are materials about the 1951 and 1974 strikes at the mill; fashion shows; advertising; mill housing; and other topics.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1860s-1982 (bulk 1920-1960).
Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1896-1995 (Addition of September 2019).

Expand/collapse Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1860s-1982 (bulk 1920-1960).

150,000 items.

Acquisitions Information: 103607

Arrangement: as received from donor.

Box 1	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1918-1919 Original archival box number 7
Box 2	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1920 Includes newspaper articles and report analysis from the national bureau of analysis. Original archival box number 9
Box 3	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1921 Includes John Leitch and Industrial Democracy. Original archival box number 10
Box 4	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1921-1922 Original archival box number 11
Box 5	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1922 Original archival box number 12
Box 6	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1922-1923 Original archival box number 13
Box 7	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1923 Includes Rotary Club Newsletters. Original archival box number 14
Box 8	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1923-1924 Original archival box number 15
Box 9	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1924 Original archival box number 16
Box 10	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1924-1925 Original archival box number 17
Box 11	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1925 Original archival box number 18
Box 12	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1925-1926 Original archival box number 19
Box 13	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1920-1926 Original archival box number 20
Box 14	H.R. Fitzgerald business documents, 1926-1927 Original archival box number 21
Box 15	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1927 Original archival box number 22
Box 16	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1927-1928 Original archival box number 23
Box 17	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1928 Original archival box number 24
Box 18	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1928-1929 Original archival box number 25
Box 19	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1925-1929 Original archival box number 26
Box 20	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1929-1930 Original archival box number 27
Box 21	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1930 Original archival box number 28
Box 22	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1930-1931 Includes 1930 strike and H.R. Fitzgerald's death. Original archival box number 29
Box 23	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1926-1928 Original archival box number 30
Box 24	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1910-1931 Original archival box number 31
Box 25	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1918-1919 Original archival box number 32
Box 26	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1917-1920 Original archival box number 33
Box 27	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1915-1921 Original archival box number 34
Box 28	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1915-1921, 1930 Includes 1930 strike letters from workers. Original archival box number 35
Box 29	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1930-1931 Includes correspondence about the 1930 strike. Original archival box number 36
Box 30	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1913-1914 Original archival box number 37
Box 31	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1919-1929 Original archival box number 38
Box 32	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1912-1920, 1930 Includes correspondence about 1930 strike and clippings. Original archival box number 39
Box 33	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence, 1920, 1930-1931 Includes Robert West strike surveillance and Francis Gorman. Original archival box number 40
Box 34	Applications for employment; baseball bi-state league; newsletters; letters, 1907, 1921 Original archival box number 41
Box 35	Correspondence, pamphlets, Hattie Hylton reports; H.R. Fitzgerald, 1919-1924, 1930-1931 Original archival box number 41
Box 36	Photographs; 1940s ad campaigns; "Danny Rivers" "Button" May Day events; Lady Astor visit, 1946; fashion shows; baseball; Ballou Park, 1920-1921, 1940s Original archival box number 43
Box 37	Robert West correspondence, 1931-1937 Includes Jas. Pritchett and DA Overbey correspondence. Original archival box number 45
Box 38	Robert West correspondence, 1933-1935 Original archival box number 46
Box 39	Robert West correspondence, 1934-1935 Includes bank correspondence; mill correspondence; business and industrial survey Register & Bee, 11 August 1935. Original archival box number 47
Box 40	Robert West correspondence, 1934-1935 Original archival box number 48
Box 41	Robert West correspondence, 1936 Original archival box number 49
Box 42	H.R. Fitzgerald correspondence; Robert West correspondence, 1910-1912, 1923, 1936 Original archival box number 50
Box 43	Notebooks of newspaper clippings, 1951-1952 Original archival box number No number
Box 44	Correspondence related to church work at Mt. Vernon; H.R. Fitzgerald; 2 law cases: Waugh case filed May 1917; Winflee v Robertson settled 1912, 1910-1912 Original archival box number 51
Box 45	H.R. Fitzgerald receipts and invoices, 1911-1913 Original archival box number 52
Box 46	Correspondence shareholders preferred stock issued, 1920 Original archival box number 53
Box 47	Lantern slides, correspondence, 1917-1918 Original archival box number 54
Box 48	Reports; company profiles; new hire packet 1965; Phoenix Mills prospectus for employees, 1940s, 1980s Original archival box number 55
Box 49	Photography; advertisements; fabric samples; annual fairs; fashion shows; coal yard fire 1950; photographs Dan River operatives, 1932; aerial photographs of Riverside division and Schoolfield division, 1930s-1960s Original archival box number 56
Box 50	Reports weekly goods sold and returned; B.D. Browder, 1933-1948 Original archival box number 57
Box 51	Officers correspondence, 1902-1903, 1917-1918 Original archival box number 58
Box 52	Correspondence and brochures from hearing on employment provisions in codes of fair competition, Washington D.C.; newsletters; transcripts, 1930s-1940s Original archival box number 59
Box 53	Correspondence H.R. Fitzgerald, 1912, 1915, 1920 Original archival box number 61
Box 54	Memoranda; correspondence; pamphlets, 1916-1918 Original archival box number 65
Box 55	Planning documents Dan River Power & Manufacturing, 1860s, 1896 Original archival box number 68
Box 56	Housing report, 1950 Original archival box number 70
Box 57	Meeting minutes, reports, 1941-1949 Original archival box number 72
Box 58	Sales reports, salary reports, correspondence regarding financial expenses from cost department personnel sheets, accident reports, filling reports; maintenance supplies job questionnaires, women’s compensation insurance accounts purchases, 1935-1951 Original archival box number 76
Box 59	Pamphlets, brochures, fliers, reports, 1917 Original archival box number 80
Box 60	Ledgers, fabrics, and miscellaneous, 1936-1964 Original archival box number 81
Box 61	Telegram stamps; photographs; advertisement posts, fabric store photographs; programs; fashion show photographs; newspaper clippings; plan of organizations, 1944-1952 Original archival box number 85
Box 62	Correspondence; blueprints; fashion show, 1927, 1947-1952 Original archival box number 86
Box 63	Labels, maps, brochures, newsletters; Currents magazine, 1928-1953 Includes a file on rental properties with a 1953 map of Schoolfield village 1953. Original archival box number 89
Box 64	Ads; flyers; newsletters; newspaper clippings; research and patent digest; sales conventions; publicity; wages; B.D. Browder, 1919, 1940s Original archival box number 90
Box 65	Housing assessment; annual reports; clippings; Coca Cola Spotlight; financial statements; Wildcat strike; clipping about integrating spinning room workforce, 1945-1950 Original archival box number 91
Box 66	Clippings, 1944-1946 Original archival box number 92
Box 67	Map of Schoolfield; subject files; community relations and community attitudes, 1947-1948 Original archival box number 93
Box 68	Newspaper clippings, property maps; advertisements; miscellaneous, 1948-1949 Original archival box number 94
Box 69	Brochures, fliers, 75th anniversary 1957; power gratin, 1930s Original archival box number 95
Box 70	Woodside mills; centennial exhibition; W.J. Erwin speeches, 1960-1967, 1882, 1960s, 1982 Original archival box number 96
Box 71	Reports; annual reports; bound scrapbook Dan River products including private labels, 1940s-1970s, 1907, 1980s Original archival box number 98
Box 72	Various dictionary textile terms; pillow case sample; magazine advertisements, 1960s-1970s Original archival box number 99
Box 73	Correspondence; reports; legal; equipment inventory; personal related to legal meetings, 1951 editorial mill strike, 1945 Original archival box number 103
Box 74	Photographs; correspondence from various Dan River-owned companies, 1955, 1981 Original archival box number 106
Box 75	Correspondence; ropers annexation of Schoolfield, 1950, 1960 Original archival box number 107
Box 76	Cash receipts, 1948 Original archival box number 108
Box 77	Paymaster receipts; bank statements, 1944, 1948-1949 Original archival box number 111
Box 78	Financial credit and debit memos, 1948-1949 Original archival box number 113
Box 79	1951 strike; B.D. Browder, 1951-1952, 1956 Original archival box number 114
Box 80	Blue Cross insurance information; employee handbook; mill welcoming brochure; instructions for public relations; photographs; newspaper clippings, booklets on PR; safety and security booklets; athletic teams of the mills, correspondence with woodside mill foundations, 1960s-1970s Original archival box number 119
Box 81	Photographs of plant operations, community events, buildings facilities, executives, employees workers, sales forces, Anderson, Woodside Mill, 1950s, 1980s Original archival box number 120
Box 82	Robert West: Special Files II, 1935-1937
Box 83	Robert West: Correspondence, subject files, 1933-1935
Box 84	Robert West: Correspondence files, A-Z subject, 1934-1935
Box 85	Robert West and H.R. Fitzgerald: Reports, blueprints, appraisals, surveys, 1929-1933
Box 86	Robert West: Correspondence, A-L, subject files, 1937
Box 87	Robert West: Correspondence, O-Z, 1937
Box 88	Robert West, 1939
Box 89	Robert West: Correspondence, subject files, 1932, 1937, 1941
Box 90	Robert West: Reports, special Files I, 1932-1938
Box 91	Robert West: Correspondence, subject files, 1938
Box 92	Robert West: Correspondence, A-N, 1937
Box 93	Robert West: Special Files II, 1937-1939
Box 94	Robert West, George Harris: O-Z, 1939-1949
Box 95	George Harris: N-Z, 1947
Box 96	George Harris: Correspondence, subject files, sales reports: T-Z, 1943-1949
Box 97	George Harris: N-Z, 1948
Box 98	George Harris: A-F, 1944-1945
Box 99	George Harris, 1949
Box 100	George Harris: A-H, 1944
Box 101	George Harris: Subject files, Q-V; clippings, 1945-1947
Box 102	Robert West: Miscellaneous, 1934; George Harris: H-Mc, 1946, 1934, 1946
Box 103	George Harris, 1940-1947
Box 104	George Harris, 1947
Box 105	George Harris: Correspondence, 1943
Box 106	George Harris: Correspondence, S-Z, 1942-1944
Box 107	George Harris: N-Z, 1942
Box 108	George Harris: Subject files, W-Z, 1945
Box 109	George Harris: I-R, 1944
Box 110	George Harris, 1941
Box 111	George Harris, 1941
Box 112	George Harris: Clippings, 1946
Box 113	George Harris: A-N, 1942
Box 114	George Harris: N-Z, 1946
Box 115	George Harris: Subject files, correspondence, bulletins, 1948
Box 116	George Harris: D-M, 1948
Box 117	George Harris, 1940
Box 118	George Harris: E-P, 1944-1945
Box 119	George Harris: Correspondence, G-H, 1946
Box 120	George Harris: A-Mc, 1943
Box 121	Annual reports, 1908-1931, 1950-1982; charters, bylaws, 1882-1977; publications, 1882-1982
Box 122	1940s industrial relations report, 1951 strike negotiations, 1940s, 1951
Box 123	1951 strike, 1951
Box 124	Correspondence, miscellaneous, 1914-1930s
Box 125	1970 civil rights; 1974 strike reports
Box 126	Cost of living reports, 1973
Image Box IB-05793/1	Dan River Mills, Inc., photographs, 1900s-1950s Mounted Black-and-White Photographic Prints Images depict Hylton Hall and groups of children. Original archival box number 43-44
Image Box IB-05793/2	Dan River Mills, Inc., photographs, 1900s-1950s Black-and-White Photographic Prints Images depict school children and images of the mill (internal and external) Original archival box number 43-44
Image Box IB-05793/3	Dan River Mills, Inc., photographs, 1900s-1950s Black-and-White Panoramic Photographic Prints Images depicting groups at the mill including, owners, sales, and Virginia Chamber of Commerce representatives. Original archival box number 43-44

Expand/collapse Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1896-1995 (Addition of September 2019).

13,200 items.

Acquisitions Information: 103712

Arrangement: as received from donor.

Real estate sales, correspondence, financial materials, photos from 1974 strike, operating reports and manuals, and meeting minutes from the National Industrial Relations Administration (NIRA), Hearing for Fair Practices, Cotton Textile Industry Committee.

Box 127

Operating reports NIRA hearing on cotton textile industry, financial correspondence, meeting minutes, 1911-1915, 1933, 1934, 1945, 1948

Original archival box number 84.

Oversize Box OB-05793/1

Printed promotional materials

Image Box IB-05793/4-5

IB-05793/4

IB-05793/5

1974 strike

Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-05793/1

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Collection Number: 05793 Collection Title: Dan River Mills, Inc., Records, 1860s-1995 (bulk 1920-1960)