Following the February 2007 demolition of the Schoolfield Recreation Center—the touchstone and crossroads of life for thousands over several generations—the will to preserve the historic mill village of Schoolfield could not be extinguished. With stubborn determination, Schoolfield preservationists renewed their vision under the auspices of the Schoolfield Preservation Foundation. Late in 2008 the SPF tapped the community groundswell and afterglow of the unsuccessful “Save the Rec” campaign, acquiring instead the “Rec’s” historic “sister,” the adjacent 1917 Welfare Building. Immediately, renewed support and contributions began pouring in from the community. Earlier this year the Welfare Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In late June, after a year of intensive planning, the SPF reopened the historic landmark as the Schoolfield Museum & Cultural Center. The new museum welcomes visitors first into its centerpiece, the Schoolfield Room, that doubles as a hall for receptions, parties and other rental events.

Images of this room from the early 1920s, showing kindergarten youngsters at play in the newly-completed Welfare Building, reveal a great deal about its original function. Here, the mill sought to ensure the welfare of all its employees and their families. Helping care for young children while their mothers worked on the factory floor proved advantageous to mill employees and managers alike. Upstairs, at the clinic, generations of employees saw Dr. Crumpler or Dr. Viccellio, who gave physicals for new employees, mended the injured, or prescribed treatments for a variety of ailments, at least those short of requiring hospitalization.

Surrounding the Schoolfield Room are several former offices last used when the building served as the mill’s employment office. These workaday spaces have been adapted as permanent exhibit areas—filled with old photographs and memorabilia to help tell the story of Schoolfield and the entire 125-year legacy of textiles in Danville, including artifacts that reflect the city’s foundational industry, tobacco.

This textile heritage showcase focuses on industrial, home and school artifacts, bringing them to life with the voices of the village of Schoolfield and the proud legacy of Dan River Mills. There is a model of a textile mill, showing the process from receiving cotton fiber to shipping the finished fabric; a wall mural of the Schoolfield Mill, scores of photographs, plus texts that educate, interpret and inspire—and yards of Dan River fabric.