Last week I happened to discover that my Hopedale site has been translated into Italian. It was done as  
    part of a "Google translate" project. They may be doing other languages, also, but so far I've only seen
    the Italian version. Of course, being a computerized translation, some of it comes out a bit strange, but
    it's kind of interesting to see.   Here's a link to the homepage.   

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    It is too late for the Draper Corporation to raise the question of American citizenship, as they have been
    notorious in displacing American with foreign labor for the simple reason that they could hire these poor
    foreigners cheaper than American citizens. But it is not a question of citizenship or nationality. It is a
    question of humanity, of wages and conditions. Joseph M. Coldwell, strike leader, 1913 strike at the
    Draper Company in Hopedale

    The Dutcher Street School, in a state of abandonment for five years, could come to life again as living
    quarters. If plans submitted by W.C McLay Associates of Holliston are approved by the Zoning Board of
    Appeals, the building, built in 1898, and described by many people as "having character," will be
    converted into 13 condominium units. Milford Daily News, February 26, 1986.

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                             Rockwell Draper Takeover Subject of Merger Story

                                                          By Virginia Cyr

    HOPEDALE - "Corporate Mergers That Ruin Cities" was the title of a story that appeared in the
    December 27 edition of the Washington Post. The story was written by Neal Peirce and dealt with
    conglomerates and their effect on businesses which they swallow up. The article contained information
    on the Rockwell takeover of the former Draper Corporation and the effect that the takeover had on the
    way of life in the town of Hopedale.

    The information was taken from Congressional files containing testimony heard in Washington when
    Bernard Stock, administrative coordinator to the Board of Selectmen, Town Counsel Atty. Robert S.
    Phillips and Ben Phillips traveled there at the request of the commission conducting a study.
    The article's author noted that Alfred Dougherty, then director of the Federal Trade Commission's
    bureau of competition, told the study subcommittee, "A conglomerate, lacking community loyalty, can
    simply write off a line of business, a plant, a work force, or a whole community and can turn its attention
    elsewhere, leaving others to pick up the pieces."

    That statement perhaps is the best summary to date, of what people in the town of Hopedale felt and
    stated when Rockwell did that to the town that had been the envy of many other towns for many years.
    Rockwell took over and the company town and its paternalistic establishment disappeared, bit by bit.
    The item in the Washington Post stated that one of the most disturbing stories told at the commission
    hearings came from Hopedale. Town Administrator Bernard Stock told of how Draper Corporation which
    had employed 2,400 of the town's 4,000 residents used to contribute 30 percent of the town's property
    taxes. Founded in the 19th century, Draper Corporation had built the Town Hall, high school, country
    club, airport, railroad, sewage plant, and even donated land for the town cemetery.

    Stock went on to tell the commission that, "In 1967 Rockwell acquired Draper Corporation." He told of
    how the executive staff was moved to Pittsburgh. He said, "We no longer had someone in the town of
    Hopedale who could make a decision on company-town related problems. Research, development and
    maintenance staffs were cut to the bone. The building began to deteriorate. Some $30-40 million of
    Draper corporate savings were transferred to the parent company. Managers were rotated through the
    plant. The factory was gradually closed down, its workers discharged. The town lost hundreds of
    thousands of dollars in property taxes. They made a valiant attempt to run a business they knew nothing
    about and they took the business and us, the Town of Hopedale down with them," Stock said.

    Peirce, author of the Washington Post article concludes by stating, "Perhaps the time has come for a
    new patriotism; one that recognizes, as the House Small Business Committee suggested, that the
    national interest may better be served by strengthening the role of independent businesses in the
    economy, as they are the most productive, the most innovative and the most prolific job-generating
    sector."  Milford Daily News, January 4, 1983

                            
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Photos from Hopedale Pond and the Parklands by Judy Belben