1. Modena Plantation Marker text. Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society.
2. Current position of Modena. 2018. Top Row Dawg. Georgia Natural Wonder.
3. Dorothy “Dickie” and Robert Roebling. Courtesy of Wainwright Ripley (Rip) Roebling
4. Painting on the silk. 1882. Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society.
5. Feeding silkworm step. Courtesy of the Farm Bureau Georgia.
6. Silk dress. 1761. Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society.
7. Silk Cocoon and Pearl Earrings, Layla Yanfeng Li, 2022

To sum up, the silk industry was not successful, mainly because of the weather. The climate was unsuitable for the growth of silkworms. The archives of the Georgia Historical Society also record that the silk industry in Georgia never became self-sufficient or profitable. However, the English aristocracy did not want to give up this only source of silk. Modena plantation no longer exists, but it is an important marker for historians studying history. I wanted to study the silk industry and silk-producing agriculture in Georgia. I am a jewelry designer, and my original artwork is a set of silkworm-inspired earrings. The bells on my earrings are made of actual silk cocoons, inset with pearls representing the silkworm and the genesis of the hope for a profitable silk industry. (Figure 7)

[i] “Modena.” Georgia Historical Society, https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/modena/

[ii] “Hair of the Dawg.” Www.hairofthedawg.net, www.hairofthedawg.net/forum/read.php?8. Accessed 27 May 2022.

[iii] “Modena Plantation.” Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, www.skio.uga.edu/about/modena_plantation/. Accessed 28 May 2022.

[iv] Spracher, Luciana ,Colonial Sericulture, Georgia’s Promise 1733-1772, EO5870 Dr.Howard Geography of North America, December 2000, P3

[v] McKinstry,Mary Thomas, The Georgia Historical Quarterly , SEPTEMBER, 1930, Vol. 14, No. 3 (SEPTEMBER, 1930), pp. 225-235