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=== Textile industry === [[File:View of the city of New Bedford, Mass., 1876 LOC 2005628469.tif|thumb|New Bedford in 1876]] [[File:Massachusetts - New Bedford - NARA - 23941315 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|New Bedford Cotton Mill in 1923]] In the midst of this decline, greater New Bedford's economy became more dependent on the [[textile industry]], which began to eclipse the whaling industry in the late 19th century. The mills grew and expanded constantly, eventually comprising multiple sites along the [[Acushnet River]]. In 1875 alone, the [[Wamsutta Mills]] processed 19,000 bales of cotton into 20 million yards of cloth, which had a wholesale value comparable to that of the entire whaling catch, and continued to produce over 20 million yards of cloth yearly after 1883.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hough|first=Henry Beetle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzcEAAAAMAAJ&q=19,000+wamsutta+mills|title=Wamsutta of New Bedford, 1846-1946: A Story of New England Enterprise|date=1946|publisher=Wamsutta Mills|language=en|access-date=June 26, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215201421/https://books.google.com/books?id=BzcEAAAAMAAJ&q=19,000+wamsutta+mills|url-status=live}}</ref> The Wamsutta Mills remained the world's largest weaving plant until 1892.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.historic-structures.com/ma/new_bedford/wamsutta_mill.php|title=Wamsutta Mill, New Bedford Massachusetts|work=Historic Structures|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=January 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110050538/http://www.historic-structures.com/ma/new_bedford/wamsutta_mill.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The textile mills redefined wealth in New Bedford, and gave birth to a prosperity greater than that of the whaling industry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/programs/migration-and-mill-work-2017/|title=Migration and Mill Work|website=New Bedford Whaling Museum|language=en|access-date=February 15, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215014748/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/programs/migration-and-mill-work-2017/|url-status=dead}}</ref> New Bedford, funded by industrial fortunes, developed a thriving art scene. The [[Pairpoint Glass|Mount Washington Glass Company]] (which later became [[Pairpoint Glass|Pairpoint]]) crafted works of glass and silver for the newly affluent class, and examples of these works can be seen today on the second floor of the [[New Bedford Whaling Museum]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} In the 1920s, local employers came under competitive pressure from new textile factories in the low-wage South.<ref name="Foner10-165">Foner, Philip S. (1994) ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume 10,'' New York, International Publishers pp. 164-165.</ref> In April 1928 their demand for a 10 percent across the board [[1928 New Bedford textile strike|cut in wages was met with strike action]]. After considerable controversy control of the large-scale work stoppage passed from the [[Communist Party USA|Communist-led]] Textile Mill Committee (TMC) to sundry [[craft union]]s affiliated with the [[American Federation of Labor]] who, agreeing to a five percent wage cut, ended the strike in October.<ref name="Foner10-165" /> Wage reductions were not enough to arrest the long-term competitive decline of the local textile industry. <gallery mode="packed" caption="Photographs taken by [[Lewis Hine]] for the [[National Child Labor Committee|NCLC]]."> File:Wamsutta-Mill-1912-Hines.jpg File:Manuel Sousa and family, 306-2(nd) St., On right end is brother-in-law; next (to) him is father who works on the river; next is Manuel (appears to be 12 years old) wearing sweater and has LOC cph.3b12096.jpg File:Young messenger in New Bedford. LOC nclc.03743.jpg File:All work in the Butler Mills. LOC nclc.02251.jpg </gallery>
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