This reflection may be complicated, Dixon said, because Dan River Mills had both positive and negative influences on Danville. “We need to bridge the gap there.”Įarlier this year, Dixon was awarded the Public Humanities Fellowship from Virginia Humanities to work on this project, which she calls “A Dan River Fabric: The Life and Legacy of the Schoolfield Community.”įellows receive a $15,000 stipend to support their work, as well as access to the archives of both the Library of Virginia and the University of Virginia, where Virginia Humanities is based.Īccording to Dixon’s fellowship application, the project “offers a moment of pause during this rush of revitalization, inviting the public to reflect on the legacy of Schoolfield and its future through artifacts and stories of the past.” “It’s not good to just look back, and it’s not good to just look forward,” Dixon said.