Hello Everyone,
For the last year or so I've found myself becoming increasingly interested in the Ipswich Historical Society Museums. Ipswich, as many of you probably already know, was the site of the only major commercial scale lace industry in the United States. Because of the lace connection, the Ipswich Historical Society has been given many wonderful pieces of lace. Over the years this lace has accumulated, and now a major effort is being initiated to identify, catalog, and properly store the lace and the lace artifacts in the collections. Because people who feel comfortable identifying lace are relatively scarce in this area, and the traveling distances are long, the Museums are hoping that the lace community will be interested in helping out via an online facility. I am copying the invitation to this facility (a Yahoo group). Right now we have 3 "in person" helpers from the New England Lace Group (Linda Lane, Sally Barry, and me). I've photographed about sixty pieces of lace, of which I think the first 10 have been put up on the Yahoo group site. If you encounter any difficulty joining the group, please let me know. I can either walk you through the process, or I can send you an invitation. I hope I'll "see" many of you there! Carolyn ____________________________________ email text from Katherine Chaison, Ipswich Historical Society Curator: With the help of Carolyn Hastings, the Ipswich Historical Society has established a yahoo group to assist in the identification of its lace collection. The Ipswich Historical Society preserves an extensive collection of lace including the Michael Auclair Lace Collection, Mrs. Newton's Lace Collection, Ipswich black lace, lace adorned clothing, pillows, bobbins and other samples of lace that have been donated to the society over a hundred and eighteen years. Unfortunately, the majority of the collection is unidentified and uncatalogued. The Ipswich Historical Society is committed to the care and conservation of its lace collection and greatly appreciates the help of lace experts and enthusiasts in assisting in the identification of its lace. If you are interested in helping with the identification process or you just want to see pictures of old lace please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ipswich_Lace and click on the "Join Group" button. I posted the first group of pictures today! Please feel free to pass this on to others who might also be interested. Thanks! Katherine Chaison Ipswich Historical Society Curator - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
