In honor of Memorial Day this month, our object for May is a soldier’s uniform jacket. While textile factories like Bates chiefly produced bedspreads along with a variety of other household linens, Lewiston’s industries also played a role in multiple war efforts. Starting during the American Civil War, when the North was experiencing a scarcity of slave-picked cotton, Bates (as the result of Benjamin Bates’ stockpiling before the war) continued producing cotton materials supplying Union soldiers. Less than half a century later, Bates supplied the U.S. Army with cotton fabric for the production of uniforms during both the first and second World Wars. Additionally, the Hill Mill, adjacent to Bates Mill No. 1 & 2, supplied materials such as nylon for parachutes during WWII.