Milling Around Greenville, South Carolina

Introduction: This tour, composed by Communication Studies students at Furman University, uses the voice of Bennette Geer, a textile executive and one of the Presidents of Furman University from 1933 to 1938.

Step back in time with me--I'm Bennette Geer, and I've led a very interesting life! I had always wanted to be a college professor, and pursued that pathway through degrees and teaching through my 30s. But when my brother unexpectedly died at a young age, I ended up taking over all of his businesses in the textile mill industry.

That combined interest, of higher education and industry, put me into conversation with somebody who became a very close friend--James B. Duke! Managing my brothers' mills, starting my own, serving as the President of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association in 1930, and then going on to be President of Furman University has led to a very full and active life!

As I'll tell more about at the Judson Mill stop, the disagreements between mill owners and workers was tough. On the one hand, we owners dreamed of bringing success to these little places we called home, like the business tycoons Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and my friend Duke had done. As a college professor myself, my dream was to eradicate poor health, civil unrest, and illiteracy from the "mountain city" we call home.

On the other hand, we never had that much success to become magnate-philanthropists, and for ourselves to live comfortably (some would say too comfortably), we often saw our workers barely getting by. Strikes and walkouts were common; in response, we mill owners were quick to shut down, hire security to keep workers in line, and get insiders in the community to report any talk of strikes or disagreement to us. In the little "planned communities" of the mills, we mill owners had complete control--we owned the store (which also operated as the bank), the church, the school, the houses, and everything.

I look forward to showing you around the town I love, and the mill crescent I helped form! Oh, and one more thing, if you'd like to step back in time with me further, consider taking the tour on your bicycle! Some of these mills are gated or difficult to reach by car, but a bicycle will get you right up to the towering bricks.