OLD ROME TO NEW ROME:The International Development of the American Rayon Industry in a outhern AppalachianTo!n in the Inter!ar "eriod #E$cerpt%L&DIA IM"ON'istory ()*+, -.heers for Duce/0 read a su1headin2 in a ,3)4 Atlanta Constitution article a1out the festivities surroundin2 the arrival of Italian di2nitaries in 5eor2ia6The distin2uished party !as passin2 throu2h Atlanta on their !ay to lay the cornerstone of the ne! rayon facility in Rome/ seventy miles to the north!est6At a 1an7uet held at the 8iltmore 'otel in Atlanta/ the article noted/ party mem1er entor Ettore .onti e$pressed -sentiment that in the outh/ his people found a country more nearly li9e their native country than any other section of the !orld/0 and that he -predicted unusual success for the ne! company and commended it on its selection of 5eor2ia as the site60 ,At the same 1an7uet/ Rome .ham1er of .ommerce "resident 8arry Wri2ht elicited a -fervid 1urst of applause0 from 1oth his American and Italian audience/ callin2 "remier Mussolini the -2reatest man of the present century/0 and the president of :ourth National 8an9 heralded the arrival of .hatillon as important to future peace 1et!een Italy and the ;nited tates6) The American .hatillon .orporation e$pected to complete its facility in Rome 1y early in,3)36In addition to stirrin2s in the rayon industry/ local manufacturin2 interests !ere 2ro!in2 in the area/ includin2 8ri2hton Mills/ formerly of Ne! ?ersey/ !ho shut do!n production at their home plant and moved all lines to the hannon/ 5eor2ia facility ei2ht miles from Rome !ith plans for a ma@or e$pansion to the e$istin2 mill and a ne! company villa2e6+

Ne!spapers referred to Rome as the -Rome Industrial Aone/0 and North!est 5eor2iaBs industrialfortunes appeared to 1e on the rise6C

)8y the time the American .hatillion .orporation decided to open its first facility on the 1an9s of the Oostanaula River/ Rome/ 5eor2ia !as already a 1ustlin2 city of almost ,>/*** inha1itants and a ma@or hu1 of industry in North!est 5eor2ia6(Its location/ in the southern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains alon2 the !here the Eto!ah River meets the Oostanaula to form the mi2hty .oosa/ made it a prime location for industry6RomeBs advanta2eous position !as not lost on the to!nBs 1oosters of the early t!entieth century/ !hose efforts 1rou2ht paved roads/ hi2h!ays/ and factories to the to!n durin2 the last half of the nineteenth century and the first fe! decades of the t!entieth6 In ,3)C/ the Rome .ham1er of .ommerce esta1lished a separate committee to specifically tar2et industrial 2ro!th in the re2ion64 8arry Wri2ht/ a World War veteran/ used his po!er as .ham1er president/ e$ecutive mem1er of the 5eor2ia 8uildin2 and Loan Lea2ue/ and as the son of a "rohi1ition Democrat state con2ressman to encoura2e road1uildin2 and railroad traffic in the area/ and helped 2et the Di$ie 'i2h!ay routed throu2h Rome63

8y ,3)(/ the to!n could already 1oast of paved streets/ a1undant access to hydroelectric po!er/ and -mi2hty industrial plants0 !ith a com1ined avera2e monthly payroll of over D(+*/***6,*The local cham1er of commerce ran full pa2e ads in the Atlanta Constitution that read/ -Rome/ 5eor2ia is Another Way of ayin2 &our Opportunity/0 -Everyone is happy and contented/ only s9ies are 1lue/0 and coupled !ith len2thy stories toutin2 the to!nBs dependa1le An2loEa$on la1or stoc9/ clean !ater/ pu1lic schools/ and private colle2es6 It 1oasted of RomeBs citi=ensB pu1lic spirit/ their !illin2ness to -invest their money in FRomeG and 1uild it for the future/0 to the point that -there are perhaps more people in Rome !ho o!n their o!n homes thanin any other city per capita in the state60,,/*** rayon mill @o1s could 1e filled out of RomeBs e$istin2 population6,After several unsuccessful pleas for local 1uilders to construct housin2 for the incomin2 !or9ers/ .hatillon contracted the A6H6 Adams .ompany of Atlanta to 1uild thirtyEthree 1ric9 veneer houses/ !orth D+/*** each/ to accommodate the first !ave of incomin2 mana2ers/ chemists/ and other specialists6In addition/ they planned to 1uild ,** frame houses -li9e those in any mill villa2e0 for !or9ers6,+In the end/ ho!ever/ the frame houses never materiali=ed68y early ,3up residence in their ne! home/ an e$istin2 house that had 1een part of the companyBs ori2inal land purchase6,4 E$pected to @oin him !ere si$tyEseven other professionals and their families/ includin2 -not more than tenIItalians/ t!o :rench/ and t!o 5erman60,3In :e1ruary of ,3)3/ :rench scientist Dr6 'enri 8arthelemy/ the companyBs head scientist/ arrived !ith his family to 1e2in preparin2 for the e$pected April openin2 of the first phase of the Rome facility !hich/ !hen opened/ had a production capacity of t!o million pounds of acetate yarn6)* Even as Mor2an/ Mancini/ and 8athelemy !ere 2ettin2 operations under!ay in Rome/ the Ne! &or9 offices !ere plannin2 for the future6In May of ,3)3/ American .hatillon .orporation and Tu1i=e Artificial il9 announced plans to form a ne! company to manufacture .hatillonBs acetate fi1ers at a plant near the Tu1i=e 'ope!ell operation6),Tu1i=e/ a lar2er and older firm/ had e$perienced a do!nturn in its stoc9 durin2 the first months of the year6))The nitrocellulose process employed 1y Tu1i=e !as e$tremely dan2erous due to the e$plosive nature of the chemicals involved6It also produced yarns that !ere of less desira1le 7uality than some ofits lar2er competitorsB ne!er methods6The older corporation may have hoped to capitali=e on the modern technolo2y that the smaller company had to offer6)

Despite a trend of rapid 2ro!th throu2hout the ,3)*s/ the industry !as not immune to theeconomic do!nturn of ,3)36In March of ,3 Accordin2 to one ne!spaper article/ Du"ont !as 1uildin2 facilities at Richmond/ KA and Old 'ic9ory/ TNJ Industrial Rayon .orp6 at .ovin2ton/ KAJ AmericanE5lan=stoff and American 8em1er2 at Eli=a1ethton/ TNJ and the Kiscose .orporation at Roano9e/ KA6-outhern Rail!ay 'oldin2 Well: Earnin2s 8etter than for Other Roads in the outh L Train .osts are Lo!er/0 Barrons/ ?uly 3/ ,3)46Accordin2 to Wil9ins/ )/ all of the a1ove companies involved forei2n capital6+ -Ne! ?ersey Mill .hooses 5eor2ia ite/0 Atlanta Constitution/ ?une (/ ,3)46C -Another Te$tile "lant/0 ?une 4/ ,3)4J -Te$tile Industry in 5eor2ia ho!s Tremendous 5ro!thJ C*/*** people are Employed/0 ?une ,>/ ,3)4/ Atlanta Constitution.( Michelle 8rattain e$amined several of RomeBs prominent mills in The Politics of hiteness6"opulation ta9en from -Rome has (3 IndustriesJ Annual D)*/***/*** Output/0 Atlanta Constitution/May ,/ ,3)(64 -Industrial 8ureau is "lanned in Rome/0 Atlanta Constitution/ ?une ,C/ ,3)C6 3 -8oosters of Rome !ill ;r2e "assa2e of Municipal 8onds/0 Atlanta Constitution/ ?une ,>/ ,3)CJ -"o!er Aids Rome/ says Ar9!ri2ht/0 Atlanta Constitution/ Novem1er ,3/ ,3)CJ -Rome to .ele1rate .ompletion of "avin2 Do!nto!n treets/0 Atlanta Constitution/ April )4/ ,3)(6,* -"opulation statistics and industrial information ta9en from -Rome/ in 'eart of 5eor2ia Mountains/ 8ustlin2 .ity/0 Atlanta Constitution/ May ,/ ,3)(6,, -Rome/ 5eor2ia0 pa2e advertisement/ Atlanta Constitution! May ,/ ,3)(6,) -Dr6 8alsam Tells Mem1ers of .ham1er of .ommerce 'e Does Not Want to 8uild Mill Killa2e/0 "ome News Tribune/ Octo1er )/ ,3)36)< Wi9ins/) -Record Output of Rayon/0 New York Times/ ?un ,*/ ,3/ ,3/ ,36+C Hit Wei2el/ -ince Tu1i=e/ 'ope!ell has Never 8een the ame/0 Hopewell News and Patriot/ ?uly ,/ ,3(C6+( -tri9e Nears in 'ope!ell Mill/0 ashin&ton Post/ ?une )3/ ,36+4 -8last is :eared after tri9e/0 ashin&ton Post/ ?une +6(< 5reater Rome .onvention and KisitorBs 8ureau/ -.apitoline Wolf/0 5eor2iaBs Rome/ http:NNrome2eor2ia6or2NKisitRomeNAttractionsN'istoricDo!nto!nN.apitolineWolf6asp$ #Accessed :e1ruary ,)/ )*,)%6(> Manfred ?onas/ -American Isolationism and the .omin2 of the econd World War/0 in The *ri&ins of the #econd orld ar+ An ,nternational Perspecti%e/ edited 1y :ran9 McDonou2h #London and Ne! &or9: .ontinuum International "u1lishin2 5roup/ )*,,% >+>6(( I1id/ +,,6(4 ,3>* census6(3 Display ad/ New York Times/ Novem1er )>/ ,3>,64, -Thrift "ointers: .are of Rayon/0 ashin&ton Post/ Novem1er ,(/ ,3>,64) -Defense 'ose 5ain 5round as il9 Recedes/0 ashin&ton Post/ ?anuary )>/ ,3>)64< -Notes On cience/0 New York Times/ April ,3/ ,3>)64> -Rayon Industry Aids War "ro2ram/0 New York Times/ ?anuary )J 8rattain 3*E3,64C 8rattain/ ,)/ ,3>>6 43 -.elanese Accused in AntiETrust uit/0 New York Times/ Decem1er C/ ,3>3J -Trust uit Ended 1y .onsent Writ/0 New York Times/ April ,/ ,3+>63* -Tu1i=e &arns/0 Tubize Yarns < no6 ,) #Decem1er ,3>(%/ inside front cover6