<sod>The first silk mill in the [[Lehigh_Valley]] opened in 1881 followed by many others. By 1900, there were twenty-three silk establishments in the Lehigh Valley, making Pennsylvania the second largest producer of silk in the world. The silk industry in Pennsylvania peaked in the late 1920s due to cheap labor, mainly from immigrant workers' children and wives. However, after the [[Great_Depression]], increasing labor unrest and competition from other textile industries began to affect the silk industry locally and nationally. By 1953, Allentown had become the number one silk city in the world, but even then, the number of looms had decreased. At the time, only six mills continued to work with silk exclusively. Other mills either shut down due to bankruptcy or shifted to the production synthetic fibers. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-321|title=Dery Silk Mill Historical Marker|last=|first=|date=2011|website=ExplorePAHistory|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1268885161176900.xml|title=Lehigh Valley was a giant in the silk industry, local expert tells South Bethlehem Historical Society - PennLive.com|website=www.lehighvalleylive.com|access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref><eod>
<sod>The first silk mill in the [[Lehigh_Valley]] opened in 1881 followed by many others. By 1900, there were twenty-three silk establishments in the Lehigh Valley, making Pennsylvania the second largest producer of silk in the world. The silk industry in Pennsylvania peaked in the late 1920s due to cheap labor, mainly from immigrant workers' children and wives. However, after the [[Great_Depression]], increasing labor unrest and competition from other textile industries began to affect the silk industry locally and nationally. By 1953, Allentown had become the number one silk city in the world, but even then, the number of looms had decreased. At the time, only six mills continued to work with silk exclusively. Other mills either shut down due to bankruptcy or shifted to the production synthetic fibers. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-321|title=Dery Silk Mill Historical Marker|last=|first=|date=2011|website=ExplorePAHistory|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1268885161176900.xml|title=Lehigh Valley was a giant in the silk industry, local expert tells South Bethlehem Historical Society - PennLive.com|website=www.lehighvalleylive.com|access-date=2016-03-13}}</ref><eod>