ThoughtGallery.org > Making It In America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A and How it Got That Way

Making It In America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A and How it Got That Way

Making It In America:

The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A and How it Got That Way

 

A Conversation with Rachel Slade, author of Making It In America

and photographer Chris Payne, author of Made In America

 

Tuesday, May 14th at 6.30 p.m.

An In-Person and Online Presentation

The program will be followed by a book-signing

 

Rachel Slade will discuss her latest book, Making It In America, a deeply personal account of one couple’s quest to change the world through manufacturing. Joining her in conversation will be photographer Christopher Payne, whose book, Made In America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne, is a stunning photographic essay which celebrates manufacturing skills. Mr. Payne shared his insights and photographs at the General Society earlier this year and we are delighted to welcome him back.

 

Making It In America is a moving and eye-opening presentation at the story of manufacturing in America, and whether it can ever successfully return to American shores and why the nation depends on it, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically.

 

This couple are Ben and Whitney Waxman, two tireless idealists attempting to do the impossible: produce an American-made, union-made, all American-sourced sweatshirt—an American hoodie. As they navigate private struggles, international trade wars, and a global pandemic, their story carries us across the nation and across time, from the cotton fields of Mississippi to New York City’s hollowed-out garment district to a family-owned zipper company in Los Angeles to the enormous knit-and-dye factories in North Carolina.

 

Rachel Slade and Chris Payne will present their unique perspectives and reflect on what “Made in the USA” really means to Americans in the twenty-first century.

Rachel Slade is the acclaimed author of Into the Raging Sea, a national bestseller, New York Times Notable Book, and winner of the Maine Literary Award for nonfiction. She spent a decade in the city magazine trenches at Boston—first as the design editor, ultimately as executive editor. Her editing and writing have won national awards in civic journalism, reporting, criticism, and reader service. She recently taught a political science course with Dr. Eitan Hersh at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University.

Christopher Payne specializes in architectural and industrial photography. Trained as an architect, he is fascinated by design, assembly, and the built form. He is the author of New York’s Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway; Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals; North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City; and Making Steinway: An American Workplace. His work has been featured in publications around the world, with frequent special presentations by The New York Times Magazine.

 

Making It In America and Made In America will both be available for purchase in- person

and online.

 

General Admission: $15; General Society Members, and Senior Citizens: $10; Students: $5.

Advance Registration required. The General Society Library, 20 WEST 44th Street (BETWEEN 5TH AND 6th AVENUES), New York City .www.generalsociety.org











When: Tue., May. 14, 2024 at 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: The General Society Library
20 W. 44th St.
212-840-1840
Price: $15
Buy tickets/get more info now
See other events in these categories:

Making It In America:

The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A and How it Got That Way

 

A Conversation with Rachel Slade, author of Making It In America

and photographer Chris Payne, author of Made In America

 

Tuesday, May 14th at 6.30 p.m.

An In-Person and Online Presentation

The program will be followed by a book-signing

 

Rachel Slade will discuss her latest book, Making It In America, a deeply personal account of one couple’s quest to change the world through manufacturing. Joining her in conversation will be photographer Christopher Payne, whose book, Made In America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne, is a stunning photographic essay which celebrates manufacturing skills. Mr. Payne shared his insights and photographs at the General Society earlier this year and we are delighted to welcome him back.

 

Making It In America is a moving and eye-opening presentation at the story of manufacturing in America, and whether it can ever successfully return to American shores and why the nation depends on it, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically.

 

This couple are Ben and Whitney Waxman, two tireless idealists attempting to do the impossible: produce an American-made, union-made, all American-sourced sweatshirt—an American hoodie. As they navigate private struggles, international trade wars, and a global pandemic, their story carries us across the nation and across time, from the cotton fields of Mississippi to New York City’s hollowed-out garment district to a family-owned zipper company in Los Angeles to the enormous knit-and-dye factories in North Carolina.

 

Rachel Slade and Chris Payne will present their unique perspectives and reflect on what “Made in the USA” really means to Americans in the twenty-first century.

Rachel Slade is the acclaimed author of Into the Raging Sea, a national bestseller, New York Times Notable Book, and winner of the Maine Literary Award for nonfiction. She spent a decade in the city magazine trenches at Boston—first as the design editor, ultimately as executive editor. Her editing and writing have won national awards in civic journalism, reporting, criticism, and reader service. She recently taught a political science course with Dr. Eitan Hersh at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University.

Christopher Payne specializes in architectural and industrial photography. Trained as an architect, he is fascinated by design, assembly, and the built form. He is the author of New York’s Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway; Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals; North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City; and Making Steinway: An American Workplace. His work has been featured in publications around the world, with frequent special presentations by The New York Times Magazine.

 

Making It In America and Made In America will both be available for purchase in- person

and online.

 

General Admission: $15; General Society Members, and Senior Citizens: $10; Students: $5.

Advance Registration required. The General Society Library, 20 WEST 44th Street (BETWEEN 5TH AND 6th AVENUES), New York City .www.generalsociety.org

Buy tickets/get more info now