Having grown up on a tobacco farm, UNCG Archivist Erin Lawrimore understands how important that cash crop was for North Carolina. The associate professor knows the impact the once-booming textile industry had on our state. And over the years, she’s witnessed both industries collapse and North Carolina search to replace them.
There’s education, technology, and medical research. And a new, burgeoning industry with an estimated $2 billion annual economic impact: craft beer.
It’s a dispersed industry, with more than 250 small business owners scattered across the state. Which is why, in the fall of 2017, Lawrimore and her colleagues set out to systematically document the history, business, and culture of beer and brewing in North Carolina, starting in downtown Greensboro.
The digital project – Well Crafted NC – was made possible through a University Libraries Innovation and Enrichment Grant.
After months of oral interviews with local brewers and brewery owners, historical research, and a successful community launch event, something caught Lawrimore’s attention: old beer recipes dating back to the 1800s.
The home brewers behind these recipes? Women.
“Until the brewing industry was industrialized after Prohibition, women brewers were plentiful,” she says. “Brewing was considered ‘women’s work.’”
As brewing turned into big business, women’s roles were minimized. When craft beer began to grow in popularity, women remained underrepresented, with the burly, bearded man becoming the stereotypical “brewmaster” image.
Lawrimore launched Well Crafted NC with colleagues Richard Cox and David Gwynn, who work on University Libraries’ digital projects. “We’re bringing university resources to local groups to help them tell and preserve their stories,” she explains. “We’re also expanding access and creating more robust, representative historical records.” See more photos on UNCG Research Flickr
