The Wilkens Curled Hair Factory:
The Rise and Fall of a Major Baltimore Industry
Presented by Jillian Storms, AIA, and Jerome Gray, AIA
In the 1840s, German-born entrepreneur William Wilkens opened a factory that used animal hair to make products ranging from mattress stuffing to wigs. Employing over 1,000 workers in its heyday, the factory was key to building up southwest Baltimore. Using rich visual sources, this talk will tell the story of the man, the factory, and the neighborhood.
Architects Jillian Storms and Jerome Gray are former co-chairs of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation’s Dead Architects Society.
Reception at 7 PM, talk begins at 7:30 PM.
