World War II Comes to the Valley 2023

Held annually on the Sunday closest to August 14 or Victory Day, which celebrates the end of World War II, the 2023 edition of “World War II Comes to the Valley” did not disappoint. Like last year, this event took place at Alternatives’ Whitin Mill in the historic village of Whitinsville, MA. The complex is operated by Open Sky Community Services with events planned by its arts and culture arm, ValleyCast. I last visited its plaza during the “Wonders of Whitinsville” Ranger Walkabout hosted by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) in June 2023, and I attended the Blackstone Valley Mill Explorations event in December 2022. This latest event was a collaboration between many organizations with volunteers (like me!) provided through Blackstone Heritage Corridor.

Spaulding R. Aldrich Heritage Gallery: Weaving Community Exhibit

On one side of the gallery, a massive, floor-to-ceiling loom acted as an interactive art installation. Thick, pre-cut ribbons in a multitude of colors allowed visitors to add a woven row to the growing tapestry. On the opposite side of the gallery was a series of booths with art pieces for sale and a sign describing the history of the individual artist or collective of artists selling the pieces. Listed below are the many talented artists.

• Morgan Tartakoff created circle weaving sunflowers and offered classes on her technique.
• Flying Shuttle Studios, part of The Arc of Blackstone Valley, is “a nonprofit studio, gallery, and retail shop [supporting artists] with intellectuals and developmental disabilities” in Pawtucket, RI that displayed an array of woven and painted artworks.

• Rosemary Dziubinski is a basket weaver and quilter from Connecticut whose unique designs contain bright pops of color.
• Mihoko Wakabayashi wove scarves and tapestries. She runs SAORI Worcester, part of the global SAORI weaving movement that originated in Japan and “is based on the Zen principle of spontaneity and simplicity” according to its website.

• Susan Johnson used a basic potholder loom to create incredible bags, purses, and wallets from “loopers”, circles of stretchy fabric about four inches long. Her sign described the origin of potholder looms in the 1930s as a Great Depression era kit intended to reuse waste from sock manufacturers, while the product transitioned in the 1950s to become a children’s craft toy.
• Jeri Golovin Gillin displayed a large, blue-and-green tapestry, which she wove at SAORI Worcester.

Dennis H. Rice Community Plaza: Organization Booths

Many organizations hosted booths in the plaza. BRVNHP gave park passes to veterans, gold star families, and active duty military members, allowing them to access any public lands for free, including all NPS sites, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), US Forest Service of the USDA, and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). On the far side of the plaza, employees from Open Sky taught guests to weave patterns into the metal fence to create an ever-changing public art installation. Battleship Cove from Fall River, MA advertised its ships and aircraft along with “Nautical Nights”, the opportunity for scouts, youth groups, and families to camp on a real battleship. Navy sailors from the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, CT had nifty posters demonstrating Navy signal flags.

Upstairs Gallery: Artifacts from the War

In an upstairs gallery space next to the theater, several local organizations shared their war-related artifacts. The Hopedale Women’s History Project and Little Red Shop Museum in Hopedale, MA shared a table with paper artifacts, books, pamphlets, an antique camera, and military uniforms. Another set of tables held artifacts from the newly formed International War Museum, building space pending, whose founder and curator happened to be my grade school classmate, Sebastian Mulhern. Highlights from this collection included radio equipment, blueprints, and a military medal collection.

G.B. & Lexi Singh Performance Center: Lectures

At 11:30 a.m., Ranger Allison Horrocks gave the opening lecture, “World War II Comes to the Valley”. She described the importance of the Whitinsville mills during WWII as the industrial complex shifted production to aid the war effort, especially as women took jobs in the mills. Horrocks noted the detailed documentation of the time period, as deployed soldiers from Northbridge, the larger town where Whitinsville is located, received the News from Home newsletter detailing local events.

At 1:00 p.m., historian and professor Linda Hixon presented “It Was No Soft Job: The Draper Corporation and World War II”. Even as a lifelong Hopedale resident and descendent of mill workers, Hixon admitted that she did not know much about the contributions of Draper Corporation to the war effort until she recently began research. The company switched from textile production to Howitzer artillery weapon production in November 1941, mere days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Photographs of the production line and portraits of drafted Draper employees were rescued from a dumpster after the company was sold, and Hixon shared several of these rare images with the audience.

Performance: The Company Bees

Finishing up the day was a performance by The Company Bees, a Rhode Island based 1940s tribute duo singing hits by the Andrew Sisters and similar vocalists while describing the stories behind the songs and the events of WWII. Audience members sang along to the hits, while federal employees danced, a great end to a history-filled day.