Projects are always ongoing at the Greene County Historical Society. As we prepare for Opening Day we have had a guest volunteer, weaving and textile expert Susan Logothetis from New York. She has been helping to get our early 19th century loom operational again.
This loom was originally owned by Mary Ann Calvert Connor of Perry Township, Greene County, and was donated by her grandson, J. Byron Headley. This loom has been on display in the museum for many years and for quite some time has needed a bit of attention.
Originally designed to weave anything from rugs to the fabric required to make clothing and anything in between, this specific type of loom was referred to as a barn loom. Due to their large size, these types of looms were often kept in barns and attics as space in the house was often not available for use.
Through a wonderful working relationship with Waynesburg University and Dr. Kathleen Thompson’s history class, we were able to secure the help of Susan to get the loom as close to operational as possible. Susan has been restringing the warp of the loom. The warp consists of the strands of fabric that are woven with the weft to create a cross work of threads or strands of fabric that would create cloth.
It is our anticipation that on April 30, our Opening Day, we will have demonstrators operating our large barn loom as well as a smaller loom donated by Susan Logothetis to display and use in the spinning room at the museum. As well as loom and spinning demonstrations we hope to have Native American reenactors, Civil War reenactors and Revolutionary War reenactors all onsite, and of course delicious concessions from our brick oven!
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for more updates on hours, events and activities for our upcoming season! We hope to see you there!