Cathy Gant Hill
Mill Villager, East White Oak
My grandfather, Truman Gant, retired from Revolution Mill about 1971, after working there most of his adult life. My father, John Gant, probably worked there 10-12 years, before getting a better job at the U.S. Postal Service. Then we moved from EWO when I was 9, to about three blocks away, Lol. But we never left in spirit.
Not sure what they did at the mill. I used to hear family talk about the webbing room and the loom room.....
Before we moved, we lived at the corner of 10th and Tucker streets. My dad always had a garden, growing tomatoes, beans, cukes and melons, so I remember playing in the backyard, being excited when he let us grow our own melon. We watched it everyday. We had a swing set in the back yard and a wide porch swing on the front porch. One day, against all better sense and judgment, my sister and I and about eight other kids all piled in the porch swing. Of course, the swing broke and we got in trouble, but it was hilarious...Now. I remember playing. Summer was playground and Vacation Bible School; catching lightning bugs in jars in the evenings, and playing outdoor games like Mother May I and 1-2-3 Red Light. Sundays were for Sunday School and church at either EWO Methodist or EWO Baptist, very often an afternoon service, and quiet afternoons (on the front porch) or in the yard. Just about everything you needed to do (as a child) was in the community: church, recreation, the convenience store; the Center where we attended talent shows, sock hops, Mother's Day and Christmas club banquets; and friends to play with. When I started school in the 60s, we walked about six blocks (to Porter School) and probably integrated it.
Every now and then there would be a fight or fracas of some sort and then police would have to come. But I don't remember it being anything terribly serious. I didn't realize it at the time, but we had community policing and somebody would say, "Call 29," which was the number of the car assigned to the officer who patrolled our community.
It was not an idyll, and it seemed hard and parts were at one time segregated. But many of our fathers worked there for at least part of their lives and were able eke out a comfortable living for their families. Yet, many of our mothers also worked other jobs to help make ends meet. The joy that pulsed through our mill village was owed to the resourcefulness of our parents, some of whom also had second jobs like mowing lawns, as my father did, hauling paste board, as my grandfather did, and cutting hair. Our mothers took in laundry, worked as maids, worked as beauticians, secretaries and some as teachers, to support their families.
