Between Art, Craft, and Industry: Textiles and Migration in New England

The rise of textile mills in Vermont towns in the nineteenth century—including Middlebury, Winooski, and Burlington—spurred the movement of people, who went to work in the mills in search of economic opportunity. In this course will consider how the shift from home- to factory-produced textiles incited both voluntary and forced migrations, and transformed how we think about woven fabrics, which often straddle the line between art, craft, and industry. We will also examine and write about primary sources, including images, textiles, and texts, and we will experiment with and study different textile-making technologies. Through hands-on projects and community outreach, we will explore the ways that textiles and textile-making forge connections to home and place.