Well, I feel a little guilty publishing a diary about genealogy on a day like today when so, so many important and frankly life-threatening events are occurring around the world. But, I made a committment to publish this diary on a certain day at a certain time, and that's what I'm doing. So without further ado...
Every Friday Noon Eastern/11am Central
Welcome! The new Friday GFHC Open Thread is to provide a venue for any and all to bring their pesky questions and/or their geneo-detective experience (“expertise”) to the community. This is not to say that we can’t all do that all week long anyway, in more topical or individual (story style) diaries, but if you’ve been waiting for an opening to pose a specific inquiry or topic, wait no more. Friday’s are wide open. Barge on in. No question too trivial or too hard … to ask. May or may not get an answer, lol, but it’s worth a shot, eh?
Link to last week's diary here
The title of this diary is a quote from my grandmother, to my sister, about her mother. Being taciturn New Englanders, we don't often talk about problematic "incidents" in our past. We prefer to hope they disappear as a result of verbal neglect. The "incident" involving my great-grandmother that forced their family to move from a small industrial town in Northern Vermont to a much bigger industrial town in Massachusetts was not discussed in our family. In fact, I knew only in a very vague way that something had happened that forced them to relocate, and that unions were involved somehow, but I always assumed that it had been my great-grandfather who was the union sympathizer.
Imagine my shock when I learned it was not Louis, my great-grandfather, who was the agitator, but Laura, my great-grandmother.
It explained a lot to me about my family personally, especially the women, who all tend to be big personalities with big opinions. Now I see where it all came from.
The actual point of this diary is that the events in Winooski, VT involving my great-grandmother, the American Woolen Company, and the CIO/TWUA (Textile Workers of American) is a giant question mark to me, and I'd like to know more. I'm fascinated by this ancestor of mine who risked everything to try to bring the union to Winooski, only to find herself and her family run out of town. I'm fascinated by how that family dynamic must have been, back in the '20s in a very traditional French-Canadian community who valued a strong male head of family, and who by all accounts were anti-union by nature.
I dearly wish I could have known her, and I wish that I had asked more of my grandmother when I had the chance (she died in '04). I got some vague details out of her about growing up in northern Vermont, but she mostly liked to talk about what they ate and the what a tom-boy she was growing up.
I'd like to present the facts as I know them, and appeal to the community here for help with further avenues for research. It is not traditional genealogical research because it involves the workplace and a company which no longer exists.
My grandmother was born in 1919 in Winooski, VT, her mother Laura (henceforth known as The Agitator, just kidding, I'll call her Laura, but I think of her as The Agitator) was born in 1892 in Quebec. Her family relocated to the US while she was still young, about eight years old, and she lived in Winooksi until her family was kicked out of town. That date is part of the mystery, I can't pinpoint exactly when they left town.
Pertinent facts: As of the 1930 US Census, the family was still living in Winooski. It was a real company town, that company being The American Woolen Company, which dominated industry there and provided the bulk of employment. While there was some ethnic diversity there, by far the largest community was French-Canadian. They were known historically as hard workers, good family people, and generally anti-union. Mill bosses loved them for that. As a result, the AWC did not unionize until 1943. Crazy, I know. So we can extrapolate that Laura must have posed enough danger and gotten close enough to success that the family was driven from the town.
Because the 1940 Census figures have not been released yet, the next date I have for the family is Louis' 1942 draft card (coincidentally, the very first public record I came across on Ancestry.com, with which I was hook, line, and sinker, addicted to the site and genealogy in general.), which lists his residence as Lawrence, MA. The events that drove the family from Vermont to Massachusetts occurred somewhere between 1930 and 1942, a considerable amount of time to have lost track of the family.
The American Woolen Company remained a powerhouse up until abut 1945, when government contracts started to dry up. They were bought out by Textron in 1955, virtually bankrupt.
So where do I search for Laura and her union struggles? I can't exactly call up the American Woolen Company and ask for their HR department. I tried contacting the Historical Society in Winooski, but I never get any emails or calls returned.
There is a strange tale in the family, from my aunt, who ran into a woman from Winooski, VT at a party years later. According to my aunt, they chatted happily about the connection until she heard my great-grandmother's name, at which point she clammed up and abruptly ended the conversation. My aunt was aghast and still wonders what could have happened that could cause such an extreme reaction.
Please, advise away! I am stumped, and would welcome any thoughts or leads.