Textile History Consortium

General Information:
~ Concept
~ Background

Meeting Information:
~ October 2001
~ October 2002

Textile
History
Consortium

Background

During October 12-14, 2001, 22 historians, librarians, curators, scholars, archivists and researchers representing over fifteen institutions gathered at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts, to discuss the current state of the history of textiles and the textile industry in America. Some of the key topics included:

~ Assessing what parts of the historical record of the textile industry and the textiles made
in America are currently in collections and what parts are not
~ The degree to which this historical record is accessible
~ The state of preservation of that record
~ The status of research in this field
~ Current means of accessing this information
~ Resources available including people and money
~ Opportunities, prospects, and needs.

Three Key Conclusions

The group came to three key conclusions over the course of its discussions. Those are

1. The current economic difficulties and associate closing, mergers, and restructuring
    throughout the American textile industry place important parts of the historical record of
    this industry -- archives, records, equipment, images, artifacts, potential oral histories,
    and more -- in grave danger of being destroyed or lost.

2. Textiles and the history associated with them provide a very special prism that can be
used by educators at every level and by the general public in focusing on America's
history and the stories of her people.

3. There is a need for an open and active consortium of organizations and individuals
    dedicated to preserving this record and making it available for the use of scholars,
    museums, and other individuals and organizations who seek to learn about this body of
    history and then make it available to the American people.

A second meeting was held on the campus of North Carolina State University during October 25-27, 2002. A significant number of the participants in the 2001 meeting were in attendance as were many who had not attended the 2001 meeting. The document that follows represents the 2001 discussions as confirmed and modified at the 2002 meeting.

Photo: "Textile Enterprise" (N07-78_a), Tracy O'Neal Collection, Special Collections Department, Pullen Library, Georgia State University
Web design: DeAnna L. Janecek, Special Collections, Georgia State University, Dec. 2002