The University of West Georgia’s Center for Public History will hold a textile history day in Bowdon on Oct. 27 to collect stories and photos from people who have worked in the textile industry.

The event will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Meeting Place, 105 College View St., behind the old high school gymnasium.

“If you worked at Warren P. Sewell Manufacturing or another cotton mill, hosiery mill or apparel factory in Bowdon, we want to hear about your experiences,” said Susan Frolich, the event’s organizer. “We’ll record your stories and memories during informal oral history interviews.”

Frolich said the interview sessions would last from about 30 minutes to an hour, and shorter, if necessary. She is also asking people to bring photographs and documents, relating to the textile industry, to be scanned into the computer. She said all information gathered will be archived for research purposes at the Center for Public History.

“We’d like for people to reserve a time beforehand, but we’ll also accept walk-ins,” she said.

People wanting to schedule an interview time can call Frohlic at 678-839-6141 or Carol Theune at 770-258-0242.

Similar history days were held earlier this year in Carrollton and Cedartown. Frolich said the history days are part of a larger Textile Heritage Trail that the center is developing.

“The trail will run from Dalton to Columbus, along Highway 27, and tell the story of textile history in the greater West Georgia region,” she said.

The Center for Public History has also joined with the Carrollton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to produce a brochure titled “The Run of the Mill: Exploring Carrollton’s Textile Past.” It contains a self-guided tour of the Carrollton spur of the textile trail.

The center’s work on the West Georgia Textile Trail began in April, when University of West Georgia hosted a conference of historic preservationists and business and community leaders at the Sewell mill in Bremen to discuss the project.

Georgia’s textile history is part of the entire state, but is particularly significant on the western side. Mills from Dalton to Columbus produced cloth, socks, yarn, uniforms, grain sacks, rope, twine, carpets and materials for radial tires. While some of the factories are still in production, many went silent after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

More information about the West Georgia Textile Heritage Trail can be found online at www.westgatextiletrail.wordpress.com.