The piano industry is rich with history. Its influence has contributed in many ways to our modern world. Innovations in piano technology spurred growth within many industries including lumber, felt, leather, metals, and design. More notably however, where the people within the industry. One of the greatest heroic figures, in my opinion, was Alfred Dolge, 1848 – 1922. His story is an important piece of history.Alfred Dolge was an industrialist originating from Chimnitz, Saxony (Germany). After a short stint apprenticing in his father’s piano factory he came to the United States in 1865. He remained active in the piano industry as an importer of leather and felts used in the construction of pianos. He was headquartered in New York City. It was not long before the difficult logistics of getting product into the US prompted him to begin manufacturing his own products here in NY. During a visit to the Mohawk Valley in 1874 while prospecting Adirondack Spruce for building soundboards, Dolge was so enamored of the beauty and resources he found he decided to relocate to a town called Brockett’s Bridge. Dolge began manufacturing felt, leather, and wood products used in piano building. His success was rapid. Ultimately, he had five factories in operation which were so impactful on the region that the name of the town was changed to Dolgeville, NY.A story I always enjoyed is how one evening at days end Dolge found a scrap piece of high quality felt laying on the shop floor. He decided it was so nice something must be made from it. He brought it home and asked his wife Anna if she could do something with it. She did. She made a pair of felt slippers. One of the first people who saw them bought them. Naturally, this led to making more. Soon an entire line of felt slippers was created and sold across the country. They were a huge success. Dolge recognized that this new product was too much a distraction from his core business. I’m not exactly sure of the timeline, or just how it happened, but eventually the felt slipper business was sold and became the Daniel Green Shoe Co. The magnificent factory building is still standing in the heart of town.Dolge was more than an industrialist. He was a dreamer, an inventor, an author. Dolge’s Utopian community ideals caught the attention of the world. His efforts led to:• Design and manufacture of machinery and tools for the piano industry.• A profit-sharing program known as Right Distribution of earning which shared profit according to a worker’s contributions to the company. His company paid into retirement system 100% with no contribution from the employee. This program caught the attention of the German government and later the American government. It is said that this became the model of our Social Security Program.• Dolge believed in education and physical fitness. He created the first kindergarten in New York, built a gymnasium and hospital for the town, as well as a city park system.• The first ever commercial electric generator, Edison’s Dynamo, was installed in Dolge’s factory. The installation was supervised in-person by Edison. This illuminated his factories and lighted the street of Dolgeville.Dolge’s story does not end well. The full account is told by Dolge himself in his book The History of a Crime. This is a must read for anyone in business, who owns property, possesses assets, or has a mortgage. It shows just how vulnerable one can be and how connivingly evil others can be.Dolge made two big mistakes. 1) he awarded financial Power of Attorney to his son who, due to his health, could not be closely involved in the business. 2) he misplaced his trust in a slick-willie lawyer from NYC. The story goes that the lawyer earned Dolge’s trust to the extent of convincing him to finance the construction of a rail line connecting the towns within the Mohawk Valley. Dolge was too busy in his factories to over-see the project so he entrusted management to the lawyer. The project was mismanaged and continually went over budget. The lawyer kept convincing Dolge to invest more money. When Dolge explained that he was tapped out and needed his available money to operate his factories the lawyer convinced him to allow a finance arrangement with his banker “friends” in NYC. Methodically they leverage all Dolge’s assets. His five factories, a lumber lot worth an estimated $750,000, all equipment and material, etc. Meanwhile, the lawyer had convinced Alfred’s son Rudolf that it was in his father’s (Alfred) best interest if his son transferred POA to him (the lawyer). This was done with the help of bankers and attorneys in Little Falls and Utica, NY. Dolge was unaware and when all assets where fully leveraged the banker called in the note. Alfred Dolge woke up one morning broke. His hard-won wealth had been fleeced by predators. During the time this occurred capitalism was on the rise and labor unions were forming across America. While there were major labor strikes throughout the country, Dolge’s factories remained fully operational and union free. It is very possible that Dolge’s values and ideals where a threat to the American capitalistic values. If you read certain accounts, they state simply that Dolge fell upon hard times. However, from what I have learned it appears that a well-orchestrated plan was set in motion years earlier to destroy Alfred Dolge and his industry. Remnants of the influence of five factories remain in the Mohawk Valley. Dolge left Dolgeville, NY and moved to California. There he tried to do it all over, and even got another town named after him. Never again, however, was he met with the same success. Alfred Dolge died hiking in the mountains near Milan Italy during a world tour in 1922 at the aged of 73. A few years ago, I was invited to give a presentation to the Manheim Historical Center on Dolge. I gave my presentation on the same spot where Alfred gave his farewell speech to his beloved town. This speech is transcribed in Dolge’s book The History of a Crime. I was gifted by the historical society with a book titled DOLGE by historian Eleanor Franz. This book is an excellent account of the life of Alfred Dolge.