Southern New England Region - New Industries

[Music] for [Music] this old shoe factory has been deserted for quite some time now it would be almost impossible to get it working again even then it wouldn't be very useful for it would be way out of date it wasn't the only Factory that had to shut down in this area Ken's grandfather and many others lost their jobs during those hard times this is the story of how those people of Southern New England have won their battle for economic Prosperity Our Story begins with the land when the first settlers came to New England they found only Hills trees and rocks instead of fertile land to make the ground usable as Farmland it first had to be cleared every stone in this fence was taken from the soil of the nearby Field The Long Cold Winters left only four or five months of the year for farming however the region had one valuable feature that the oldtimers soon put to work abundant water it was easy to use the water for power because of the very hilly Countryside this is an Old Grist Mill that is run by water power [Music] the weight of the water running downhill and falling over the water wheel turns the shaft inside the mill the shaft turns one large Stone wheel against another the grain is poured in between the two stones where it is ground into flour [Music] Grist Mills and were the forerunners of many small factories in New [Music] England when this land was first settled each family had to make most of their own tools and clothing the women even wo their own cloth [Music] later on when towns began to appear shoemakers and other Craftsmen opened their own shops each article was made [Music] separately for many years everything was handmade with very crude tools then in the 1880s these simple tools were replaced by Machinery run by water power it was possible to turn out dozens of pairs of shoes much cheaper and faster than before new inventions such as the leather rolling and sewing machines helped towns like Lynn and Brockton Massachusetts become important shoe manufacturing centers talented people like Samuel SL introduced new machines his power loom soon replaced the old hand Looms with these machines large quantities of cotton goods were made much faster and at lower costs men and women skilled at working the handlooms learned to run the new Power machines the manufacturer of textiles became a very important New England industry Massachusetts and Rhode Island produced cotton textiles especially in the mill cities of Paul River New Bedford pu Tucket and Wocket mil towns such as L and Lawrence grew famous for making Woolen textiles and depended mainly on water power Boston and Providence became Great Sea ports here raw cotton arrived from the south and finnished textiles were shipped to many markets although most cotton Mills used water for power some used steam but coal to make the steam with was shipped by boat from Pennsylvania nearly everyone who lived in the mil towns depended on the factory for a living not only did the Mills pay the town's people their wages but they often owned the General Store as well Southern New England was a busy and prosperous place to live until after the first world war a period of hardship for both workers and Factory owners began near the end of 1919 times were so difficult that people had no money for food and had to stand in line through all kinds of weather for Relief [Music] meals the manufacturers were located in old-fashioned plants the cost of improving them was more expensive than building entirely new factories in better locations for this reason the shoe and textile Industries started moving to other parts of the country where labor was cheaper and taxes lower the southern pedmont area of the United States was such a location and so many Industries moved there from New England the people of New England were left in serious trouble what could they do about their closing factories and lost jobs the future looked Grim but the people faced their problems bravely towns formed planning committees to attract new Industries to their communities workers applied their skills and experience to learning new trades slowly these efforts began to show [Music] results New Industries came and built plants to make electrical equipment Machine Tools Metal Goods and Home Appliances these industries had good reasons for wanting their plants in New England the same water which once ran Grist Mills can turn generators to make electricity now plants no longer have to be located near water for power before the 1920s most factories also had to be on the rail railroad line or near a harbor so that they could receive raw materials and ship out their finished products today because of excellent roads and fast trucks factories can be located at any spot where it is easy to get workers and raw materials finished products can be trucked directly from the factories to the great trading centers of the Eastern United States or taken to Ports be shipped to other parts of the world the busy ports of Boston and Providence became the transportation centers of New [Music] England here raw materials are unloaded and taken to factories to be turned into finished products the new products are then shipped to busy markets in America and abroad most important in this industrial growth were the people themselves they worked hard to use their intelligence and Technical knowledge in new jobs industry helped workers to learn new skills a man who could operate a complicated machine in a shoe factory could quickly learn to run another machine in a Precision Tool plant this training was very important during the second world war when New England's Industries produced weapons for our country's defense the ship building Industries turned out warships like this submarine in New London Connecticut aircraft manufacturing became another of New England's leading Industries now much of the nation's scientific research is being done here scientists and technicians are needed to fill the many new jobs that have been created by the Space Age much of this specialized education is available right here in New England where some of the world's most well-known universities and colleges are [Music] located Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard and Yale are centers of experimentation in space technology here a new satellite is being carefully checked before its journey into [Music] space at MIT the nature of radioactive materials is being explored new ways are being developed for the use of these materials in Science and Industry This research has helped the development of old and new Industries in New [Music] England the many factories along Route 128 just outside of Boston are examples of New England's recent industrial [Music] expansion here you can see mile after mile of modern factories and research centers from this highway of science come ideas that help to keep America growing the ideas born in research centers come to life in factories and help our country's Industries to remain the greatest in the world thus we have seen that the history of New England is one of NeverEnding change the early settlers found farming difficult because of the rocky land and Long Winter they soon turned to shoem making in factories like this one later on shoe and textile Industries could no longer make money but in time the people of New England overcame the problems of closing factories and lost jobs they set out to attract new Industries and applied their skills to new kinds of work these industries are now among the most important in our country New England's Prosperity is still growing there are plentiful Water Resources to produce electrical power transportation is convenient and its ocean ports are always busy today New England has come a long way since the early settlers learned how to use water to turn their machines the Ingenuity of the first Yankees is still helping Southern New England to grow