Resources

The project, "Bibb City: Collected Lives from a Mill Town", was created to provide a more in depth view into southern mill living and to experience the variety of aspects which characterize the makeup of mill villages and to interpret the history of Bibb City more particularly. The research team has organized a list of educational terms and resources to further extend knowledge about the Bibb Mill, as well as other southern mills. These resources are an excellent guide for teachers, students, and anyone else who would like to become more aware of the numerous aspects which defined life in southern mill villages. Below are the list of resources and the various topics that are vital to grasping a complete understanding of why this project is so important and how it can be put to use to extend education about mill living.

Bibb City History

McKinney, Jesse. Memoirs of a mill town. Columbus, Ga. : Brentwood Academic Press, c1998.

Spinning into history: A Bibb City Story; Carson in Columbus: McCullers, the lonely hunter. [videorecording] Produced by Young Historians, Brookstone School. Columbus, Ga. : Young Historians, Brookstone School, [2002]

Lupold, John "Mill Town" White Water, Red Clay and Blues [videocording]. Public History Program, Columbus, GA, 2006-07. Produced: Virginia Causey.

Lupold, John. "Bibb City Historic District." National Register of Historic Places application. Unpublished, No date.

Bibb City and Bibb Mill, Macon Images

• HABS - Library Of Congress http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/
• Sanborn Maps http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/sanborn/
• Library of Congress, Child Labor Laws Committee. Go to Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/index.html
  Choose digital collections, then search for "Bibb Mill Macon" when items come up on the screen on the left there's an option to search Photographs and images, click that option and the search again under "Bibb Mill, Macon." There you should see images by Lewis Wickes Hine (please choose Bibb Mill #1, Macon images only.)

Oral Histories

• Transcripts of fourteen oral histories of Bibb Mill workers from the CSU Archives
  http://archives.columbusstate.edu/cvhc/Pages/viewtext.php?s=browse&tid=33&route=browseby.php&by=title&s=browse
• Transcripts of six Georgia Historical Society oral histories of Bibb City workers:
  http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/

Education Topics

Economics

1. What role did the mill play in the operation of the community?
2. How did the relationship between the mill owners and workers affect the local economy?
3. How did the global economy affect the mill's production?

Labor

1. In what ways did the family system affect the labor supply?
2. Compare child labor during the time of the Bibb to child labor now.
3. Why was the transition from farm to mill important to families and workers?

Religion

1. What role did religion play in community?
2. How did religion affect the moral standards of the community?
3. In what ways did regular church attendance coincide with the mill owners opinions of the workers?
4. Was religion a requirement for mill workers?

Culture and Community

1. What type of culture did the mill create?
2. How did the workers community lives affect their work lives? Consider the punishments for negative behaviors.
3. What were the cultural values in the mill community? What helped create these values? Consider inside and outside factors.
4. What roles did women play in the community?

Race

1. What role did African Americans play in the mills labor force?
2. How did desegregation affect the mill community? How did it affect job security for White mill workers?
3. How were African Americans treated inside and outside of the mill?

Geography

1. How did the fall line affect the location of the mill?
2. Compare the layout of Bibb City to other mill villages across the United States.
3. What role did the Chattahoochee play in the mill community?