News-Record.com

Two recent articles in the News & Record about the demolition of Cotton Mill Square failed to mention what occupied the space between mill and mall, from 1950 to 1986. Western Electric, my father's first employer, was the company that recorded most motion picture sound tracks for decades; that made telephone equipment for an expanding new industry; and by the late 1950s, at other sites, was building defense missile guidance systems.

In Greensboro it provided jobs for veterans who had finished their education with the GI Bill and at one time had 1,200 employees, making it one of the city's largest employers. Eventually, it became part of AT&T (later, Lucent Technologies).

It's a shame if one of your writers doesn't research and publish an article about the history of Western Electric in Greensboro. At least it merits mention in the history of that group of buildings being torn down.

William Ameen
Greensboro