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Bernard Cone Photograph Albums

Bernard Milton Cone (1874-1956) was born in Baltimore as one of the youngest of Herman and Helen Cone's thirteen children. His elder brothers, Moses (1857-1908) and Ceasar (1859-1917), built Proximity Cotton Mills in Greensboro in 1895, and later launched Revolution Mill, White Oak Mill, and Proximity Print Works, creating one of the largest textile mill companies in the South. Educated at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia Law School, Bernard Cone worked as a lawyer in New York for seven years before settling in Greensboro in 1904. Over the next 45 years, he held various positions in the family's textile empire, including that of president of Proximity Manufacturing Company from 1917 to 1938. Cone was a skilled amateur photographer, and his photos provide a rich picture of life in Greensboro in the 1900s and 1910s. Images show: members of the Cone family and their mansions on Summit Avenue, the textile mills and their employees, the mill villages and their residents, and mill-sponsored schools and recreational activities. Cone also captured street scenes in downtown Greensboro and the city's 1908 centennial celebrations. In addition, the albums include several creative self-portraits.

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Boys on rocks
Two young boys holding floral bouquets pose seated on a group of large rocks.
Boys with tools
Two boys pose holding tools, one with a saw the other with a paint brush, while an older man looks on.
Brick layers
Men with shovels digging an area for bricks. Bricks and wooden frames can be seen off to the side.
Bridge
This image shows the construction of a bridge in one of the Cone mill villages.
Bridge
This image shows the construction of a bridge in one of the Cone mill villages.
C.O. Forbis Furniture float
A man and woman ride aboard an automobile decorated patriotically for the Greensboro Centennial parade.
C.O. Forbis Furniture float
A man and woman ride aboard an automobile decorated patriotically for the Greensboro Centennial parade.
Cable Company piano exhibit
The Cable Company piano exhibit booth at the fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.
Campus scene
View of a school campus.
Canoeing and swimming
People swimming and canoeing in Hardy Mill Pond.
Canteen at the fairgrounds
The canteen area at the Greensboro fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.
Canteen at the fairgrounds
The canteen area at the Greensboro fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.
Canteen at the fairgrounds
The canteen area at the Greensboro fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.
Canteen at the fairgrounds
The canteen area at the Greensboro fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.
Canteen at the fairgrounds
The canteen area at the Greensboro fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.
Car Racing at the fairgrounds
This image shows the spectacle of car racing at the Greensboro fairgrounds.
Car racing at the fairgrounds
This image shows the spectacle of car racing at the Greensboro fairgrounds.
Carriage house
One of the carriage houses at a Cone mill.
Carrier pigeons
This photograph shows a flock of carrier pigeons outside their building.
Ceasar Cone
Ceasar Cone sits on horseback in the drive of the Cone mansion.

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