Historic Hyde Hall will be the setting for this year’s Textile History Forum, which will take place June 8-10. Anyone with a serious interest in textiles is encouraged to attend. The Forum is an eclectic gathering of textile enthusiasts: collectors, curators, scholars, weavers, spinners, knitters, quilters—amateurs and professionals—who get together to share current research, exchange information, tour area museums, and participate in workshops. They also enjoy networking opportunities and a banquet on Saturday evening, a tradition established by the Forum’s founder and director, Rabbit Goody. Goody is a textile historian and owner of Thistle Hill Weavers, a commercial mill producing accurate historic reproductions of interior furnishing textiles for museums, the film industry, designers, and home owners.
This year’s Textile History Forum will feature presentations on Hand Loom weaving in Scotland, 1750-1825; Quilt Making during WWII; Textiles in the New Netherlands; Early Calico Production in New York State; Paisleys in Portsmouth, NH; Textile Production by African American Women on Plantations from 1750-1830; Decorated Hetchels; an original film on Cotton Fiber Art in Ecuador; a comparison of Architecture and Textile Technology; investigations of historic Mitten Patterns in New York and New England; early Spinning Mills in New York, and more.
Friday, June 8th and Saturday, June 9th are devoted to paper presentations, discussions of works in progress, textile collection tours, and workshops. Participants are encouraged to bring textiles to share and discuss. On Sunday the Forum will host an “Antiques Roadshow” style Textile I.D. day at Hyde Hall, which is open to the public and helps raise funds for the restoration of Hyde Hall. Bring your textile treasure to Hyde Hall, and for $7 the Forum’s textile
experts will identify and date it.
Hyde Hall, a 50-plus room stone mansion at the north end of Otsego Lake, is an outstanding representation of romantic classicism in America, one of the “two or three greatest houses in America,” according to Brendan Gill, architecture critic for the New Yorker. Designed by Philip Hooker and built by George Hyde Clarke between 1817 and 1835, Hyde Hall is a National Historic Landmark, on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a New York State Historic Site. The mansion sits inside Glimmerglass State Park, a lake front park with 42 campsites, beach, showers, boating, and picnicking facilities on Otsego Lake.
Registration Information
Registration is $150 and includes lunch both days. There is an optional banquet on Saturday evening as well. For registration information and questions, contact Rabbit Goody or Jill Maney, Textile History Forum, 101 Chestnut Ridge Road, Cherry Valley, NY 13320. Call 518-284-2729 or email rabbitgoodythw@gmail.com.
