By Ann Havemeyer

It was a busy afternoon at the General Electric plant in 1953. On the banks of the Blackberry River in a building that had been a 19th century stone mill, General Electric opened a branch in 1946 to make starters for fluorescent lights. Twelve Norfolk women were employed at first, but the number soon grew to 145 with workers from neighboring towns, and production soared. GE reported that the Berkshire women were turning out starters at a fast clip and their “deft fingers” were perfectly suited for the tasks of spot welding, soldering, and hand-press operation. General Electric closed its Norfolk branch in April of 1975, when the plant was sold to the New England Miniature Ball Company, located there today.