Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting

A new American Memory site, Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting, shines an interesting light on the concept of working, and the anthropology and culture of the workplace. Paterson, New Jersey, is considered the heart of the Industrial Revolution in America, at one time the largest silk manufacturing center in the nation and a leader in the manufacture of other products. But this project documents a more recent past, 1994, with some 470 interview excerpts and 3,882 photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Unlike some of the other American Memory projects, there is a little bit more narrative here. If you browse to Five Field Workers Impressions, you'll see much interesting information with accompanying images.