Dolge

by Eleanor Franz

Describes the life of Alfred Dolge, whose utopian ideals combined with the industry of making piano parts built the village of Dolgeville in Herkimer County, New York.

106 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little piece of NYS history; very interesting!

[Jane Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Local History. Upstate New York was a hot bed of radical ideas in the mid 1800s. Dolgeville was developed as a utopian factory town with benefits, pensions, education, recreational opportunities for employees. Alfred Dolge was a visionary, and believed that treating employees well would benefit the firm in the long run. Some credit him as being the father of Social Security. Needless to say, after huge success, Dolge was eventually run out of town by other businessmen from neighboring mill towns ... the experiment ended in New York, but he started again in California... This all predated the Triangle Factory fire when post fire, unions were set up in said mill towns. Change does come eventually, but nothing was ever as sweet as Dolgeville. My great great Abenaki grandfather worked for Dolge making shoes sold to the Hudsons Bay Company. Info is fascinating.

[Jacqueline115 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandmother's large German family immigrated to Dolgeville so this was of personal interest for me reading about the history behind the name "Dolge". In addition, my grandmother worked at the Daniel Green factory and I remember visiting the Soda pop store for magazines and soda fountains.