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Description
Between 1897 and 1903, the Harrison Brothers store on South-Side Courthouse Square underwent many changes in customers and merchandise. This research revels a distinct economic connection between downtown Huntsville merchants and cotton mill villagers that influenced Harrison Brothers abrupt change of merchandise from tobacco to Queensware ceramics in 1900. The Harrison Brothers' ledgers, which recorded customer credit accounts, and their daybooks, which recorded daily transactions, give insight into the store's operation, customer habits, and significant events in the store's history. These accounting books and other sources in the Harrison Brothers Hardware Collection from the UAH Archives and Special Collections present an in-depth view of Harrison Brothers and Huntsville in relation to significant developments in the pottery and tobacco industries in the United States during the late Industrial Revolution. These industry developments and the rise of the cotton mill industry affected Huntsville’s merchants and consumers. Addressing subjects such as race, gender, and social class through an economic lens, this research offers an intricate view of Rocket City’s well-known hardware store that once sold Queensware in Cotton Mill City.
Program
Research and Creative Experience for Undergraduates (RCEU)
Department
UAH Archives and Special Collections
Department
History
College Name
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Advisor/Mentor
Drew Adan
Advisor/Mentor
Charlie Gibbons
Advisor/Mentor
Christine Sears
Publication Date
9-1-2023
Document Type
Poster
Keywords
Harrison Brothers, UAH Archives, cotton mills, merchandise, ledgers
Recommended Citation
Fisk, Merritt, "Merchants and Mill Workers: Harrison Brothers and Huntsville Commerce, 1897-1903" (2023). Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs). 419.
https://louis.uah.edu/rceu-hcr/419