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.

Details

Who's responsible?: Greensboro History Museum (Repository)
Where can I find more information?: No finding aid available.
Topics: Business
Events
North Carolina
Subject headings: Greensboro (N.C.) -- History -- 20th century
Cone Mills Corporation
Textile industry -- North Carolina -- Greensboro
Contributing Institution: Greensboro History Museum

Pages

: Chimneys; What looks to be the foundations of a house. All that is left or built thus far are chimneys.

: Church building; This image shows a church in one of the Cone mill villages.

: Church in Greensboro; A large brick church in Greensboro

: Church in Greensboro; A large brick church in Greensboro.

: Church in Raleigh; A church in Raleigh, N.C., near the State Capitol building.

: Church in Raleigh; A church in Raleigh, N.C., near the State Capitol building.

: Circus sideshow; This photograph depicts the circus sideshow act, "Jolly Young Widows" that traveled from Coney Island.

: City scene; This photograph, taken in an unidentified city, shows an apartment building, businesses, houses and a green space with a fountain.

: Clarence Cone Sr.; Clarence Cone Sr. sitting and holding infant Clarence Cone Jr.

: Clarence Cone Sr.; Clarence Cone Sr. sitting and holding infant Clarence Cone Jr.

: Clarence Cone and family; Clarence Cone with his wife and a child on the porch of their house.

: Clarence Cone house; Taken from grass level, this image of the Clarence Cone house focuses on two dogs running in the grass towards the camera.

: Clarence Cone house; A view of the Clarence Cone house from the street.

: Clarence Cone house; This image is a view of the Clarence Cone house on Summit Avenue.

: Clarence Cone with his wife and Bernard Cone; Clarence Cone, with his wife sitting on his lap, poses with Bernard Cone on the porch of the Clarence Cone house.

: College Avenue; A view down College Avenue at the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro).

: College Avenue; A view of College Avenue and the State Normal and Industrial College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro). The Foust Building sits in the foreground, and the Forney and the Administration buildings are in the background.

: Company house; Photograph of the Clarence Cone house on Summit Avenue.

: Company house; Photograph of the Clarence Cone house on Summit Avenue.

: Cone Export exhibit; The Cone Export exhibit booth at the Greensboro fairgrounds during the Greensboro Centennial celebration.

Pages

In collections