I have added another index for the Watauga Spinnerette to the site. This index is for the July 1930 issue. For anyone curious what the Watauga Spinnerette is I’ll give a quick introduction. In the mid-1920s a German company that produced rayon silk opened a plant in Elizabethton, Carter, Tennessee under the name American Bemberg Corporation (or Bemberg to anyone that lives in the area) and the shortly after opened a second plant known as North American Rayon Corporation (NARC). The two plants were the main source of employment for the area and a sizeable percentage of people living in the area had some relation to someone that had worked at one or the other. By the end of the 1930s almost 4500 people worked for the companies. Throughout the 1920s and 30s the companies had a series of labor disputes, strikes, walkouts, etc and began putting out a monthly magazine not long after a couple of major disputes. The magazine was roughly 16 pages at first and consisted of gossipy news and quips, a few group photos, coverage of company sponsored sporting events, numerous safety warnings and announcements of marriages, births and vacations. Later issues would focus on area communities, schools, churches and the like. The magazines provide an unmatched resource for church member lists and class photos of area schools in the 1940s. I personally have yet to not find a relative within any given issue.
I am very interested in obtaining permission to digitize and publish the actual magazines at some point in the future and am in the process of searching for the copyright holder.
A proper webpage is in the works to provide a history of Bemberg and NARC along with the indexes and photos.
I can provide photocopies of any item that has been indexed for a small fee so feel free to contact me at michael at geneacentric.com
