Making It in America:
The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (and How It Got That Way)

Making It in America is a moving and eye-opening look at the story of manufacturing in America, whether it can ever successfully return to our shores, and why our nation depends on it, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically. From Rachel Slade, the best-selling author of Into the Raging Sea. Catherine Allgor, president of the Mass Historical Society, will join Rachel Slade in conversation.

Making It in America offers a fascinating new take on free-trade economics and manufacturing history. Woven through Ben and Whitney Waxmans’ story is the essential story of textiles and their critical role in shaping capitalism. It was the demand for cheap cloth that sparked the industrial revolution. It was the brutal conditions in New England’s textile mills that first drove workers to organize. This is a deeply personal account of how individual choices shape a nation. Each touchpoint casts a rare, compassionate look at what came before, where we are now, and where we’re going—through the people, places, and ecologies that produce the fabric of our lives.

Rachel Slade is a Boston-based journalist, writer, and editor. She was a staff writer at Boston magazine for ten years. Her two-part story about Boston’s secretive planning and development agency also won national awards in civic journalism and laid the groundwork for Mayor Michelle Wu’s sweeping reforms to the city’s planning process. In 2016, Rachel’s story for Yankee magazine, a long-form narrative about the sinking of the container ship El Faro, led to the national bestselling book, Into the Raging Sea. Rachel has also held editorial posts at the Boston Globe and Down East magazine. She earned her BA in political science from Barnard College and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She splits her time between Brookline, Massachusetts, and Rockport, Maine.