Samuel Slater, possessing considerable knowledge of textile production and machinery, emigrated from England in 1789 after being attracted to the United States by the bounty offered for skilled textile workers. Because British law prohibited people like Slater from exporting drawings of relevant manufacturing equipment and their operation or selling them to competitors, he constructed versions of the Arkwright spinning and carding machines after arriving in America, using them to establish the U.S. cotton textile industry in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1793. A descendant, John Fox Slater, became prominent in the local textile industry and served as president of the huge Ponemah Mills complex, which still exists in the Taftville section of Norwich. In 1882 he donated the then extraordinary sum of one million dollars to educate freed slaves in the South, and eventually 36 colleges received these funds. Slater was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this act. The Romanesque styled Slater Museum, designed by Stephen Earle, was given by his son William Slater to the Norwich Free Academy in memory of his father and was dedicated Nov. 4, 1886. Its extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Renaissance casts is considered the finest in the country, including such masterpieces as Michelangelo’s Pieta and the Greek Venus De Milo Parade. Opposite the museum is Chelsea Parade, an area once planted with Indian corn and later used as a training ground for the local militia.

Photo: Michael Herrick

Photo: Michael Herrick

Norwich, Connecticut · USA