There might be some unknown textile treasures in your nearby History or Pioneer Museum. Members of the Gorge Handweavers Guild and Columbia Fibres Guild discovered several of these treasures in Oregon.

It all started when some guild members were asked by the Hood River History Museum to help plan a textile exhibit. The museum had some textile holdings that were rarely seen by the public. While examining the textiles, it became apparent that a “loom in every home” was ending because of industrialization during the 1800’s.  The weavers became interested in telling the story of pioneer times to the present.  There were, and still are, many old handwoven textiles donated to local historical museums by family members.

The Hood River Museum has a fragment of an old coverlet, but little information about it other than it came over the Oregon Trail. The fragment was studied and eventually replicated. This spurred the group on to wonder what textile treasures might be hidden in other museum holdings.

Several local museums in the Columbia River Gorge were contacted, and a few had textiles to examine and catalog. Whole and partial woven pieces were examined, more replicas were woven, more knowledge gained, and a wonderful appreciation for past weavers was renewed!

Although most museums are closed now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hopefully many will be ‘open to the public’ by the time ANWG 2023 rolls around.  If you have time when visiting Oregon in 2023, visit the Hood River History Museum, Fort The Dalles Museum, Cascade Locks History Museum, and Columbia Gorge Heritage Museum in Bingen, WA. Sue Walsh visited the Fossil, OR, museum and documented a lovely coverlet there. The study group also analyzed the weave structures of coverlets belonging to them or to friends. These historic textiles have been the inspiration for several “new” textiles woven by guild members.

Hidden textile treasures abound!  See you at the 2023 ANWG Conference in Oregon —

Kathy O’Hern, Gorge Handweavers Guild

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The Weaving Guilds of Oregon conference steering committee is very busy planning for the upcoming ANWG Conference in Oregon in 2023. Please continue to visit our website for information and conference updates. If you would like to receive information delivered to your inbox, please subscribe to the conference blog .