Dear Lacemakers, Some of my guests from overseas will remember that I always recommend this museum to them, if they are visiting New England. And, if they are visiting me, I take them to this museum (a 3-hour drive from my home - and 3 hours to return). It is a model for what museums of this type should be.
While today we lament the problems in Lowell, nearly every week I read in the papers of museums that are opening - most of more appeal to men. How do "they" raise the money for more museums? Meanwhile, museums of more interest to women tend to be small, local, and underfunded. Now that women are reaching the career heights and fairer economic independence they still dreamed of less than 50 years ago, it is time to put our collective heads together and preserve the history of the women who came before us. Many of the women who worked in these Lowell mills saved money to put their brothers through Harvard and other institutions of higher learning! With great concern, on May 5th (a month ago) I sent the information below (from the Costume Society of America) to an officer of the New England Lace Guild in Massachusetts. No response came. Today, we have a burst of correspondence from our "sisters" in the Lowell region who are members of Arachne. Here is what I sent on the 5th of May: ---------- Dear (name deleted for her privacy), Just received (below) - from the Costume Society of America newsletter. Do the members of New England Lace Guild know about this? The fact that the Textile Conservation Center is in jeopardy should be of great concern to everyone in our region, if it is one of only three in the U.S. Also, do any members of New England Lace Guild have lace in the museum, perhaps on loan?? Should be re-written for the NELG newsletter, after an interview at the museum to be certain the facts are correct. (Name removed), I do not know how public this information is, so turn to you for clarification, before sharing with a larger concerned audience. Semi-distraught, Jeri ----------- TEXTILE MUSEUM THREATENED WITH CLOSURE LYNNE Z. BASSETT (New England and the Eastern Provinces Region I, Costume Society of America) provides the following report: "Rumors that the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA, will be closing in September are dangerously close to being the truth. Founded in 1960, the museum opened at its present site in 1997. The museum's collection of industrial textile machinery has been designated a National Heritage Collection for Mechanical Engineering, while its library holds 27,000 volumes, 50,000 images, and five million swatches of historic fabrics. The museum also owns an important collection of costume and textiles. The elegantly refurbished factory building which now houses the museum offers an impressive permanent exhibit on American textile history from domestic to factory production. The Textile Conservation Center of the ATHM is one of only three such regional conservation centers in the U.S. Unfortunately, visitation and other means of support have not been sufficient since the museum moved to Lowell and it is currently operating with a $600,000 deficit. Knowing that it cannot continue to withdraw endowment funds to meet operating expenses, the museum is exploring its options, including merging with another organization outside of New England, selling the museum building and leasing back space to continue educational activities, or permanently closing and dispersing the collections. A meeting of the board of trustees on May 20th will decide the museum's future. Please pledge your support and help get the word out to save this important museum and keep it in Lowell. It is not too late." To help, write in support of the Museum. Send your letters to Michael Smith, President, American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton Street, Lowell, MA 01854. ---------- Jeri - continuing letter to Arachne on June 1, 2005 There is a lot at stake here. The museum is large, as you will guess if you read the Web Site: http://www.athm.org/ It is a multi-story mill building that, with parking area, would fill a large city block, or two. It has multi-floors, and is filled with exhibits that one can view by walking up a ramp through galleries - accessible to those in wheelchairs. The exhibits start with looms in room settings of the Colonial period and continue to the top where there is a 19th century factory room full of machinery so loud when in operation that earplugs are offered to viewers before they enter that exhibit. The building is beautiful inside. Large gift shop that provides a venue for weavers to sell their products, perfect cafe, large classrooms for children, gallery space for changing exhibits, and other amenities for guests on the ground level are "just perfect". During Embroiderers' Guild-sponsored private tours, I have visited spaces not open to the general public - conservation center, photography room, library and the storage facilities (huge). One would never guess the museum has an operating deficit. To sell the building seems criminal, since the reuse of a remodeled textile factory building is "part of the collection". The operating expenses debt is large! It seems to me the museum needs the help of experts to raise and oversee the spending of large sums of money to pay these debts and go on to create an enlarged endowment fund that will generate income to keep it in operation in the future. Perhaps someone could recommend a foundation that would have an interest? If not an interest in textiles, then maybe an interest/focus in womens' history? If so, you will find the address of the President of the museum in the text above. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace & Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
