millwork square graphicThe factories in Dubuque’s Millwork District were, at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the largest producers of windows, doors, blinds, and mill products in the nation. But by the 1960s the millwork industry in Dubuque started a slow decline as companies pulled out of the district one by one. The last plant shut down in 2014.

In 2014 Tim Olson photographed and interviewed over forty men and women who once worked in Dubuque’s Millwork District. An exhibit of the photographs will run from October 2 to November 22 at Gallery C, 900 South Jackson, in the Millwork District. Millwork Portraits, a book containing twenty-five of the photographs and interviews will be released October 2, 2014.

Support for Millwork Portraits provided by the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Gronen Restoration and the Center for Dubuque History at Loras College.

To see individual interviews and larger versions of the photographs, click on the thumbnails below.

Neal McEvoy

Neal McEvoy

Jean Hinds

Jean Hinds

Jerome

Jerome “Jerry” Roling

Charles Strub

Charles Strub

Tom Avery

Tom Avery

James Schmitt

James Schmitt

Elaine Schumacher

Elaine Schumacher

Frank Honigman

Frank Honigman

Ken Fluhr, May 7th, 2014

Ken Fluhr

Lawrence Gallagher, May, 6th, 2014

Lawrence Gallagher

Dolores Wright

Dolores Wright

John Anglin

John Anglin

Bob Mills, June 4th, 2014

Bob Mills

Donna Weydert, June 13th, 2014

Donna Weydert

Robert Bechen, June 9th, 2014

Robert Bechen

Randy Hammerand

Randy Hammerand

Jim Avery

Jim Avery

Jim Massey

Jim Massey

Lester Hammerand

Lester Hammerand

Lawrence Lee

Lawrence Lee

Les Pautsch

Les Pautsch

Bob Reding

Bob Reding

John Bissell

John Bissell

Carole Loetscher

Carole Loetscher

Jon Brachman

Jon Brachman

Don Schuster

Don Schuster

Joel Heer

Joel Heer

Vince Sheehan

Vince Sheehan

Tom Cullen

Tom Cullen

Mike Burke

Mike Burke

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