Salon: The Rise and Fall of American Manufacturing

For almost 150 years, Brown & Sharpe was a Providence cornerstone, employing thousands of workers and changing the physical landscape of the city. Join author Gerald Carbone and Rhode Island Historical Society Executive Director C. Morgan Grefe as they discuss the revolutionary, global business that helped reshape American industry. Carbone’s forthcoming book, Brown & Sharpe: The Partnership that Shaped the World (working title), traces the story of this industrial giant through the lives of the men and women who shaped not only the company, but American Industrial Capitalism. Beginning in the first half of the 19th century and reaching through the country’s longest strike, the story spans two centuries, yet only three generations. Carbone will speak about researching and writing this sprawling epic that traces the history of one of America’s most influential companies at the center of global enterprise.