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THURSDAY, JUNE 10 - Education Session & Early Bird Tours
8:30 am – 5:00 pm
GIS for IA: An Introduction to Geographic Information System. One day Workshop, GIS for IA
11:00 am – 4:30 pm
Cranston Print Works, one of the world’s finest textile printing and finishing operations. A more extensive program than Friday’s scheduled visit, this Early Bird Tour includes the Cranston design studio and, engraving plant, as well as the printing plant. See www.cpw.com for details.
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Walking Tour of Providence, including studios of Rhode Island School of Design.
Newcomers’ Reception: 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Newcomers and SIA Board Members board bus for special reception at Blackstone Valley Visitors Center, opposite the Slater Mill. This meeting is dedicated to introducing new members and first-time conference attendees to the SIA Board and chapter officers.
Opening Reception at the Slater Mill: 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Welcoming reception and tour of Slater and Wilkinson Mills in Pawtucket. Sandwiches and salads will be served. Shuttle bus service will be provided from the Courtyard Hotel to and from Slater Mill.
FRIDAY, JUNE 11 – ALL-DAY TOURS: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Choose One
As with all SIA tours, the 2004 conference tours are dependent on the willingness of site managers to permit visits. Though we expect all tours to proceed as described, tour contents may change based on site availability or other factors. Registrants will be notified of any changes. SIA reserves the right to cancel any tour or course that does not attract a sufficient number of participants.
1. Narraganset Military Technology
The defenses of Narraganset Bay give us an extraordinary opportunity to witness the evolving American military engineering infrastructure from the Revolutionary era through the Cold War. Sites include the 18th century earthworks at Conanicut Battery, the masonry masterpiece of Fort Adams, the Endicott-era concrete batteries of Fort Wetherill, and the WWII emplacements for the 16" guns of Fort Nathanael Greene. These sites will be critically examined, explored, and interpreted by a national expert from Newport’s Naval War College, Colonel Ted Gatchel. If scheduling permits, we may make brief visits to Beavertail Light and the Museum of Yachting at Fort Adams.
2. Exploring Southeastern Massachusetts
With the early settlement and development of Massachusetts, its bog-iron rich southeastern region became home to a wide variety of early industrial enterprises. Many industries, including those centered on iron production, started here and flourished. Today, there remain a surprisingly wide variety of niche manufacturers and industry-associated historic and archeological sites for us to explore. Among them: New England Ropes, Fall River, a specialty rope maker with roots in the 19th century; Tremont Nail, Wareham, one of the oldest nail makers in the nation (and still using early 19th century machines); Henry Perkins Company, Bridgewater, a specialty foundry established in 1849; Bridgewater Iron Works Park, the site of a large ironworks that ran from 1691 - 1988; Simpson Spring, Easton, a local carbonated beverage bottler founded in 1878; Stonehill Industrial History Center, Easton, a collection of artifacts and material documenting industries from shovel-making (Ames) to copper mining; a North Easton Walking Tour of five buildings designed by H. H. Richardson, plus Olmsted landscapes, worker housing, and the Ames Shovel works; and Sincera Glass, a company that recycles glass into tiles in a former textile mill.
3. Upper Blackstone
Through the efficient use of hydropower, the Blackstone Valley became known as America’s hardest working river in the 19th century. Numerous mills, mostly in textiles, operated here for many years. We will visit a variety of operating factories as well some historic sites in the upper part (broadly defined) of the Blackstone, including: Riverdale Mills, Northbridge, a completely renovated 1840’s woolen mill that makes sophisticated welded and coated wire mesh; Cranston Print Works, Webster, a specialist in multi-colored printed textiles; Conklin Limestone, the oldest working quarry in the U.S.; Washington Mills, North Grafton, an abrasives manufacturer founded in 1868; Kelley House Museum, Lincoln, an 1830 mill superintendent’s house converted into a museum of the Blackstone’s transportation history; and a variety of historic transportation features, including the concrete, open-spandrel Ashton Viaduct and the Blackstone Canal.
4. Lower Blackstone
The lower Blackstone area, broadly defined, is well known for textiles and jewelry. We will explore those and other industries in Attleboro, Central Falls, and environs through sites that include: Wardwell Braiding, Central Falls, a 1911 company that makes braiding machines for reinforced hoses and electric cables; Attleboro Area Industrial Museum, custodian of local IA history and artifacts including lathes, chain machines and other operating equipment; Charles Tomae & Sons, Attleboro, a 5th generation manufacturer of high quality gold and silver items; Guyot Brothers, makers of jewelry findings, fittings, and filigree; Leedon Webbing, Central Falls, a specialty weaver of narrow fabrics, including ventian blind tapes manufactured on 75 year-old looms; and Gowdey Reed, Central Falls, founded in Providence in 1834 and now the last makers of loom reeds in the northeast.
5. Marine Industries
Rhode Island’s intimate association with marine industries goes back to the first settlements in the area. This tour focuses on various aspects of this water connection, from boat-building to fishing and more. We will visit: the Herreshoff Marine Museum, Bristol, a collection of forty sail and power yachts, models and artifacts celebrating one of Americia's most technologically advanced boat design and manufacturing companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; The International Yacht Restoration School, Newport, a school/workshop dedicated to the preservation of maritime skills and historic watercraft; the Museum of Yachting, Fort Adams, named one of the top ten sailing museums by Sailing magazine; Blount Seafood, Warren, a clam and shellfish processor since 1946; Blount Boats, Warren, manufacturer of casino, dinner cruise, and other recreational boats; and the New England Wireless and Steam Museum, an outstanding collection of steam engines (including the only surviving Corliss engine running under steam today) and home to the oldest (1907) surviving wireless station in the world.
6. Pawtuxet Valley
The Pawtuxet River, though smaller than the Blackstone, has an equally early and impressive industrial history. This tour will focus on the industrial landscape of the Pawtuxet Valley, viewing a variety of mills, mill villages, and iron, steel and concrete bridges. Stops include: Hope Village, the site of an 18th century furnace village with a 19th century textile mill still housing textile production and hydroelectric generation via century-old Hercules turbines; Arctic Mill, a 19th century textile mill with a modern, operating Osseberger crossflow turbine; Concordia Mill, a producer of synthetic yarn and threads specializing in surgical thread, located in the 1806 textile village of Anthony; and the New England Wireless and Steam Museum (described above)
FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 11 – SHOW AND TELL
Show and Tell: 7:30 - 10:00
Show and Tell at the Rhode Island Foundation Building, the historic 1896 Union Station, located just east of the Courtyard Hotel.
SATURDAY, JUNE 12 – PAPER SESSIONS & BANQUET
Paper Sessions: 8:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Paper sessions and the annual business meeting and lunch will be held in the Rhode Island Convention Center located just west of the Marriott Hotel.
Banquet: 6:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Buffet dinner and cruise of Upper Narragansett Bay. Shuttle buses will leave the Courtyard starting at 6:00 pm for India Wharf and return after the cruise. This narrated cruise will provide a unique perspective on a variety of industrial, military, and infrastructure sites.
Ironworking in Action - 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Jim Johnston will fire-up his experimental Rehoboth Research Bloomery based on plans by Sir John Percy; Ray Larson demonstrates the skills and machinery required to forge specialty tools in his working blacksmith shop, Genuine Forgery
IA and Environmental History - 9:00 am - 1:30 pm
Pat Malone of Brown University and Rick Greenwood of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission will explore the impact of interconnected industrial and environmental issues on a variety of mill towns in the Lower Blackstone.
New England Wireless and Steam Museum- 9:00 am - 1:30 pm
New England Wireless and Steam Museum, an outstanding collection of steam engines (including the only surviving Corliss engine running under steam today) and home to the oldest (1907) surviving wireless station in the world. While some interpretation will be offered on site, including a steam-up, no transportation will be provided to the museum. For more details, visit http://users.ids.net/~newsm/.
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