The North Carolina Society of Historians presented its 2005 Paul Green Multimedia Award to the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association for its website at www.owdna.org/history.htm.
Judge's collective comments: "This is one of the finest websites we have ever visited. It houses some fabulous black and white visuals, as well as colored; it takes the visitor on cyber 'walking tours'; we are privy to interviews with mill workers. We especially enjoyed 'Erwin Chatter' with its riveting vintage photographs. The site also provided us with maps, schools/stores/mills information, data about the citizens of Durham, and other interviews with them. It introduced us to mill workers via photographs and snippets of information about them and their mill service. The Bull City Timeline is impressive and takes us form the early 1800's to 2003! And... the Erwin Cotton Mills Timeline was extremely interesting! At this time, we would like to reiterate... this is one of the FINEST websites we have ever visited! It is extremely well-researched and planned, easy to use, eye-catching, has incredible and substantial content, and we were very proud to judge this entry!" (source: NC Society of Historians)
Old West Durham Neighborhood Association members Tom Clark, Pam Spaulding, and John Schelp were recognized. (The group's nomination is below.)
The NC Society of Historians was established in 1941 for the purpose of collecting, preserving and perpetuating North Carolina's rich history; and for recognizing those persons who fulfill the society's objectives.
Contact:
Elizabeth Bray Sherrill
President, NC Society of Historians
Sherills Ford, NC,
ncsh@earthlink.net
www.ncsocietyofhistorians.org
Nomination:
As textile mills shut down across North Carolina, the rich history of the cotton mill villages is quickly fading. Jobs that once formed the backbone of dozens of little towns across the state have gone overseas. Many of the beautiful old red brick mills and rows of mill houses have fallen into disrepair.
As the last generation of cotton mill people passes, so too does an important chapter in U.S. history.
Much of the history we celebrate is of grand people in grand houses. One neighborhood in Durham is working hard to save a very different kind of history -- a simple blue collar history.
The neighborhood of Old West Durham is saving the stories, the places and the historical record of a forgotten cotton mill community -- for all to see.
The neighborhood's website offers an online history of Erwin Mills and the West Durham mill village. Their website offers visitors stories, recollections and old photographs from long-time residents.
Other pages describe the Italian stonecutters who built Duke Chapel and lived in West Durham, old street maps, histories of neighborhood churches, Duke's old campus, articles on the Great Textile Strike of 1934, vintage postcards, and Hall of Fame composer John D. Loudermilk, who wrote the song, 'Tobacco Road' and was born in the mill village.
People have contacted the neighborhood out of the blue... a parent dies, they wander on the Internet, looking, come across our webpage and call in tears.
Chosen as a Local Legacy by the Library of Congress, the site includes links to newspaper articles, oral histories, letters and photographs of "Mill Hill." Already approaching 50,000 hits, generations to come will know about this old mill village (and what's happening to save the community today).
30 years ago, the old mill village began to fall on hard times. In the 1970s, a new mall forced a number of businesses in the shopping district to close. In the 1980s, new roads destroyed a number of mill houses and the neighborhood's two parks. In 1986, Erwin Mills, the economic engine of the community, shut its doors. The neighborhood had hit rock bottom.
Today, Old West Durham is enjoying a steadfast renaissance. A strong neighborhood association built the website, restored the mill worker cemetery, saved houses from demolition, and worked with the City to add traffic circles and sidewalks.
You can see a list of success stories at: www.owdna.org/accomplishments.htm
(The group is all volunteers, no staff, with just $375 in the bank).
Today, Old West Durham is still a place where the front porch is used to visit with neighbors, where the train still shirks its whistle and where a more simple history is celebrated.
Kindly stop by for a visit: www.owdna.org/history.htm
John Schelp, president Old West Durham Neighborhood Association