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Additional issues of the Firestone News now Shared Online

Firestone News, page 1, September 1972

Coy Stiles, checking the warp at the Gastonia plant. September 1972 issue, page 1.

In late 2013, we published issues from the 1950s-1970s of the Firestone News, a company newspaper published at the Firestone Textiles plant in Gastonia, NC. In conjunction with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Loray Mill Project, we’ve just added more recent issues of the News: 1971-1993. (Loray Mill was operated by the Firestone Company until 1993.)

As mentioned in this earlier blog post, the paper includes news about employee accomplishments, updates in textile research, and information on plant safety and expansion. There’s an interesting mix of company updates and “human interest” stories, like A Father & Four Sons (September 1, 1972, p. 2) which includes a great picture of the Firestone employees in the Tom J. Neal family. While published for the Gastonia plant, some of these later issues of the Firestone News also report on events at Firestone plants in Bennetsville, SC; Bowling Green, KY; and Hopewell, VA.

You can view the all of the digitized issues of the Firestone News on DigitalNC here.

 

 


“Mr. DeWeese spent his vacation in New York City. Whow!” Vacation news in NC company newspapers

As the North Carolina heat continues to broil us all, many are sitting in our offices daydreaming about our upcoming vacations or perhaps ones that have just past.  North Carolinians who worked in factories across the state were much the same in the middle of the 20th century.  Company newspapers, which shared news about the company itself, the town the factory was in, and the people who worked for the company, would often feature vacation announcements in the summer months to report on where everyone was returning from after a nice week off.  DigitalNC has several company newspapers available online, including the Erwin Chatter and Firestone News.

The Erwin Chatter, was published by employees of the Erwin Cotton Mills Company in Cooleemee, North Carolina.  It appears that at the mill, everyone took “vacation week” at the same time.  The paper reported, often with a bit of humor, the travels of everyone.

The Firestone News, put out by the employees of the Firestone Tire Factory in Gastonia, North Carolina, also featured updates on employees vacations, separated out by the department they worked in, and sometimes included the employee’s job description as well.

So if you haven’t figured out vacation yet, perhaps these news clips can give you a few ideas.  Myrtle Beach appears to be a particular favorite, or perhaps you could motor through the North Carolina mountains and go fishing.  To view more North Carolina newspapers, visit here.


Firestone News Digitized and Online

Firestone News Firestone News, a company newspaper produced by Firestone Textiles, formerly a division of Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, has been digitized and is now available on DigitalNC.

The publication, which runs from 1952 through 1971 and was bimonthly and later monthly, is specifically for the Gastonia plant. While stories about the company are included, the majority of the content is related to events and employees in Gastonia. Each issues contains a “News in Brief” section divided by plant departments such as carding, spooling, and winding, which reports news on members of those departments. Typical announcements include births, deaths, illnesses, vacations, sons home on military leave, and visiting guests.

The paper also reports on company sports leagues, including bowling, baseball, and the fishing club. In later issues, service anniversaries were published, along with photos of those employees with twenty-five years or more at the plant.

The Firestone News should be of particular interest to genealogists researching former employees of the plant as well as those who would like to know more about the culture of a North Carolina textile mill in the second half of the twentieth century.

The Firestone News has been published online in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill North Carolina Collection and UNC’s Digital Innovation Lab.


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