Professor studies the history of factory tours By Peggy Binette,
firstname.lastname@example.org, 803-777-5400 Ever wondered where
the door or tires on your car come from and how they were made?
University of South Carolina history professor Dr. Allison Marsh
has. In fact, Dr. Allison Marsh has spent a decade studying the
history of factory tours, exploring why companies open their
doors to the curious public and what visitors learn when they
see how things are made. Marsh says learning about the
manufacturing process makes people more engaged and informed
consumers. Plus, she said, touring a chocolate or a potato chip
factory is fun. An expert on 20th-century technology and
tourism, Marsh has visited hundreds of American industrial
sites, from the oil fields of Alaska and coffee plantations in
Hawaii to coal mines in Wyoming. She is the first historian to
focus in detail on factory tours and the role they’ve played in
American culture. Marsh will share this historic slice of
American industrialization and dai