There's Been a Fire at the Bibb Mill

A few weeks ago, an e-mail from a cyberspace friend I’ve never met, left me brokenhearted. Reading the e-mail my mind rushed back to my childhood in Bibb
City, Georgia. “I’m so sorry to say this, but I don’t know if you’ve heard about the fire at the Bibb Mill.”

A fire at the Bibb Mill, sad thoughts rushed in my mind, picturing my grandparents working inside the textile factory. The mill closed in 1998. My grandparents retired from Bibb Manufacturing Company in the late sixties, during a troubled time in America. Times were tough and although my grandfather encouraged me to ‘go to work for the mill and to stop chasing my silly dreams,’ I ignored his suggestions while I pictured myself on Broadway or on the silver screen.

“There’s been a fire at the Bibb Mill,” I read the e-mail again, printing it while shuffling papers on my desk. Life has a way of changing our plans, along with our dreams. Forty years after my grandparents retired, ten years after the mill closed, Bibb Mill has burned to the ground, leaving the community of Bibb City devastated. I am married now and live in Charleston, South Carolina with my husband of thirty plus years and three precious rescue dogs we adore. Never did I make it to Broadway, or the silver screen, but words are my passion and livelihood and I have built a pleasant life while pursuing my life as a writer.

My cyberspace friend grew up in the same village of Bibb City. She and her husband and family still live in Bibb City, on the same street my grandparents lived on. Over the years, we have corresponded after she located my e-mail address on a website about Bibb City. I had posted my e-mail address to locate information from others since I was researching for a book proposal. She contacted me to let me know she still lived in the area and when I needed information, all I had to do was chat with her via e-mail.

Words cannot express the loss I feel for those who grew up in the textile mill villages. Bibb Mill was a landmark for the City of Columbus, GA. Perhaps a landmark for those who dreamed of a better life, and for those who fought for the civil rights and women's movements. I confess, I was one of them. I questioned how people could criticize (and hate) someone simply because of the color of their skin, and I simply refused to be treated as second class, or to walk behind a man. Never did I burn my bra, but I stood my ground, furious that some people believed a woman should be 'barefoot and pregnant, or a housewife.' No not me.

While it is true, I married much too young, I imagine there have been times I have truly driven my husband C-R-A-Z-Y. Never did I want him to open doors for me, and during the women's movement, well, let's just say, I went on strike many times, especially when he left a glass in the den, or socks on the floor! I'm certain he would prefer that I learn to 'keep my mouth shut, and to step off my soapbox' --- but that isn't my style. Never have I been described as shy -- advocate, and probably a few other choice words, could define who I am!

For me, the Bibb Mill was a symbol of my grandparents, their morals and family values. There was a time I rebelled about my life as a 'lint head.' Now, I am proud that my grandparents instilled the values that I practice and still believe. Yes, I am older and wiser, but I still have those morals and values, even when a fire attempts to destroy not just a brick building, but so much more.

While I do not know what will happen to the skeletal remains of a textile manufacturing company, I still picture my grandfather sitting by the only window in the mill, and I remember the Bibb overalls he wore, with Juicy Fruit chewing gum tucked in the pockets. I remember my grandmother, her cotton white hair curled into a bun, silk stockings on her legs, and I shall never forget her homemade biscuits, almost floating like a cloud, just before you bit into them. Grandma tried her best to teach me to bake them, finally shaking her head in defeat, encouraging me to continue baking the delicious lemon and cream cheese pound cakes everyone loved to eat.

Bibb Mill stands in my heart and soul. The charred remains of the mill and the village of Bibb City are part of my heritage.

Barbie Perkins-Cooper
Author of Chattahoochee Child