The “Dignity Of Work” Monument Dedication Will Take Place This Week

A magnificent new monument flanks the front lawn of the History Museum of Burke County, standing as a lasting tribute to millworkers. The Workers' Legacy Monument will be officially dedicated on Saturday, May 6 at noon. The monument, called "Dignity of Work," was commissioned by the Workers' Legacy Foundation Board and its founder, Morganton-native Jim Warlick.

A six-year project in the making, the 24-foot permanent, iconic monument depicts three sculpture vignettes representing the textile, furniture, and hosiery mill workers. Warlick noted that these millworkers were the backbone of the Burke County community for more than a century, and it has been his dream to spotlight these hard-working people. The monument and a corresponding museum exhibit will provide insight into Burke County's mill history and provide a permanent tribute and record of their stories and impact.

The dedication of the monument and the official opening of the Workers' Legacy Exhibit is part of the History Museum of Burke County's 20th Anniversary Celebration festivities that will take place at 201 W. Meeting Street in Morganton. All the day's events are open to the public.

Mill workers were the grit and fortitude of the Industrial Revolution for over a century. In often tough conditions, these men, women, and children toiled long hours, made immense sacrifices, and worked tirelessly to ensure prosperity and a better life for their families and local communities.

In city squares across America, you will find statues and monuments to presidents, business leaders, bankers, and mill owners. It is the work of laborers that built manufacturing towns and forged community identity. However, memorials honoring the sacrifice that mill workers made, particularly in the middle years of the 20th Century, are virtually nonexistent.

That fact did not sit well with Jim Warlick, whose mother worked at the same sewing machine at Morganton Hosiery Mill for 33 years after starting work there at the age of 16. Now, thanks to Warlick and the Workers' Legacy Foundation he founded, Burke County factory workers won't be forgotten.

Warlick recalls his mother, Mary Harrison Warlick, hitching a ride to and from the mill daily because the family didn't own a car. He doesn't remember her ever missing a day of work. "She raised us by herself," he said, his voice straining with emotion. "$80 a week. Three kids."

The monument, which Warlick said is the only one dedicated specifically to mill workers in the country, is made of porcelain baked onto a stainless-steel frame. It depicts three Burke County mill hands, the late Claude L. Moore of Drexel Furniture, Mrs. Anne Ramseur of Burke Yarns, and - in the middle - Mary Warlick.

In front, letters emblazoned on a rusty colored steel background proclaim: "Dignity of Work."

Dignity was important to Mary, Warlick said. Despite the poverty his family faced, his mother never wavered in teaching her children to be productive citizens. His mother, Mary, also inspired Warlick to sponsor a scholarship at Western Piedmont Community College and a documentary film.

"I've been very fortunate in life, and I wanted to give back," said Warlick, who owns a highly successful chain of political memorabilia shops, including three in Washington D.C. - one of them across the street from the White House. "That's why I wanted to do it, recognizing them."