ATMI Presidents 1950-1960George P. Swift, III, 1950-1951, grandson of the founder of Muscogee
Manufacturing Co., Columbus, Ga., was born April 9, 1888; graduated from the University of Ga.;
joined Muscogee in 1909, became vice president in 1942; and chairman of the board in 1962. He
became chairman of the board of Columbus Fiber Mills when the firm was founded in 1946. His
business affiliations included chairmanship of Fourth National Bank, Columbus; founding director of
Georgia International Life Insurance Company; director of Tom Huston Peanut Co.; and director of
Swift Spinning Mills, Columbus. He was a founder of Archer Mills, Columbus, which merged in 1940
with Wayne Knitting Mills, Fort Wayne, Ind.C. C. Hertwig, 1951-1952, a native of Macon, Ga., joined
Bibb Manufacturing Co. after service in France with the 33rd Division. He was named progressively
assistant treasurer, treasurer, vice president, and, in October 1947, president of The Bibb. He
retired in October, 1956. He served as president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of
Georgia; vice president of the Cotton Textile Institute; trustee of the Institute of Textile
Technology; and director of the National Cotton Council.W. A. L. Sibley, 1952-1953, began his
textile career as superintendent of the Whitney Manufacturing Co. and the Ware Shoals Manufacturing
Co., later becoming associated with the Milliken interests. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and
the Georgia Institute of Technology. He served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of
Richmond and the Charlotte branch of the FRB.H. K. Hallett, 1953-1954, a native of Reading, Mass.,
made his textile career in the South after graduation from Dartmouth College, working with Langley
Mills, Langley, S.C.; Draper Corp.; Graniteville Co.; Wateree Mill, Camden, S.C.; Thrift Mill, Paw
Creek, N.C.; rising to president of Pelzer Mills, Pelzer, S.C., 1948-1953; and vice president of
Kendall Mills, Cotton Mill Division in 1956.J. Craig Smith, 1954-1955, a graduate of Virginia
Military Institute, led the 1956-1957 fight that spotlighted the increasing burdens imposed on
American industry by low-wage foreign countries. A native of Birmingham, Ala., he joined Avondale
Mills, rose to president of Avondale and a number of trade associations.Arthur Knox Winget,
1955-1956, born in Mecklenburg County, N.C., on October 26, 1882, entered the textile business in
1909 with Colonel C. B. Armstrong of the Armstrong group of mills, becoming secretary/treasurer a
few years later. The Armstrong group merged with Textile-Incorporated in 1931. He became president
and treasurer with American YarnandProcessing Co. in 1952 to become AmericanandEfird Mills Inc., he
then became chairman of the board. He was a director of ACMI for 17 years and also served as
president of the North Carolina Assocation.F. E. Grier, 1956-1957, was serving as president of the
South Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association when he became president of ACMI. At the time of
his death, he was president and treasurer of Abney Mills, Anderson, S.C.; and chairman of the board
of Erwin Mills, Durham, N.C. Born on November 17, 1899 in Due West, S.C., he began his career in
banking and became president of the Bank of Greenwood in 1933, holding that post until 1942.L. G.
Hardman Jr., 1957-1958, son of a physician who served as Governor of Georgia, graduated from the
University of Georgia in 1950 and went on to a varied career including the presidency of Harmony
Grove Mills, Commerce, Ga.; presidency of First National Bank of Commerce,; and of Frozen Food
Lockers, Inc. He served as president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia; president
of the Textile Education Foundation at Georgia Tech.Halbert M. Jones, 1958-1959, a 1929 Phi Beta
Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina and of the Harvard Business School, joined
Waverly Mills, Laurinburg, N.C., in 1931, became president and treasurer in 1935. He was an
organizer, vice president and treasurer of Scotland Mills Inc., Laurinburg, treasurer of Morgan
Jones Inc.; New York, and treasurer of Aileen Mills Co., Biscoe, N.C. He served as president of the
North Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association and of the Carded Yarn Association.James A.
Chapman, 1959-1960, holds the distinction of being the first man to have served as president of the
Southern Textile Association, the South Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association and ACMI. He
joined the family firm, Inman Mills, in 1916, and succeeded his father as president in 1936. A
graduate of Wofford College, he served his alma mater as trustee for many years and was awarded an
honorary doctor of laws degree. He also served as a trustee of Presbyterian College, Clinton, S.C.,
and was a founding trustee of the Spartanburg County Foundation.
