Dr. Jonathan Square of Parson's School of Design will present the first chapter from his forthcoming monograph Negro Cloth: How Slavery Birthed the American Fashion Industry (Duke University Press, 2025), which explores the pivotal role of enslaved individuals in the genesis of the American fashion industry. Enslaved individuals found a powerful means of self-expression through the creation and wearing of textiles, a recurring theme across the book's chapters. This chapter draws on published slave narratives and oral testimonies collected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to unearth of the history of enslaved people's relationship with negro cloth, specifically "Lowell cloth." This textile not only highlights the prominence of Lowell as an example of American industrialization, but also underscores the pivotal role of fashion and textile in understanding the experience of enslaved people.

Co-sponsored by CHEER.