After being on hiatus for a while we’re bringing back the Picture of the Week! On Wednesdays we’ll be featuring interesting and unique images from the collections of the Government and Heritage Library. We hope to uncover some pretty cool things in our State Publications as well as our other library materials. Please feel free to suggest any images or topics you would like us to feature.
So without any further adieu… this week’s Picture of the Week is from the the Spring 1958 issue of the E.S.C. Quarterly. The Quarterly was published by the the Employment Security Commission, once called the Unemployment Compensation Commission and today known as the Division of Employment Security (DES). DES is now part of the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
DUPONT AND AMERICAN ENKA MANUFACTURE CHEMICAL FIBERS IN NORTH CAROLINA
In four eight-hour shifts employees of the Kinston Dupont “Dacron” Plant carry on the continuous process around the clock. The huge plant is shown above as it appears at night, in operation. Superimposed is Dupont Business Machine Operator June Wilson of Kinston and Tarboro wearing a black and white satin ensemble made of “Dacron” and silk and fashioned by Pierre Belmain in Paris, France. This was one of 19 creations by famous French designers shown in the “Paris to Kinston” Spring Fashion Show commemorating Dupont’s fifth anniversary of operations for the Kinston plant.
This image is a bizare combination of haute couture French fashions and North Carolina industry may not be an image I would think of especially for 1958. It is an interesting way to celebrate what DuPont was producing in the their Kinston, North Carolina Plant. As explained in the photo caption this issue of the Quarterly highlights the growing chemical industry in North Carolina. The chemical industry worked closely with the texitle industry especially in the manufacturing of synthetic fibers such as dacron that was produced at DuPont’s Kinston Plant. In its heyday the Kinston Plant employed about 3,000 people. Presently, it has 200 employees manufacturing Sorona, a “renewably sourced fiber” used in a variety of products (http://www.kinston.com/articles/news-81024-dupont-kinston.html).
This issue of the E.S.C. Quarterly can be found in the North Carolina State Government Publications Collection here http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,451975 . For more information on this publication you can read one of our past blog posts, http://statelibrarync.org/news/2012/03/industry-in-north-carolina/.
