If you find yourself in search of a ghost, old cabins are always a good place to look. There's a trio of those just up the road from me, place called The Little Loomhouse, which date to the late 19th century and are on the National Register of Historic Places. The cabins themselves have a history of their own, predating the Little Loomhouse by several decades.
It was the coming of Lou Tate in the late 1930s that was to make the cabins into the Little Loomhouse, and she would weave a life there until her death in 1979. Born Lou Tate Bousman, first lady Lou Henry Hoover dubbed her Lou Tate and she would continue to use that name professionally for the rest of her life. The Little Loomhouse itself gets its name from Lou Henry Hoover as well, or rather the loom that Lou Tate developed for her work with the Girl Scouts.
A gift of five generations of weaving patterns would spark her interest in weaving, winning the Sarah Fuller Smith Award while at Berea College set her up with the necessities of a weaving business, but it was only with setting up her looms in those cabins on Kenwood Hill that Lou Tate got to do the thing which she really loved, which was teach.
Some of her first students were sponsored by another first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, who also visited Lou a time or two. She would continue to teach and collect old weaving patterns for the rest of her life, and on her deathbed asked her students to continue her tradition. They founded the nonprofit foundation that continues to operate the Little Loomhouse to this day.
Nowadays, its collection of old textile patterns is one of the largest in the US and you can still take part in classes on just about any of the textile arts. Not just at the cabins either, they spend more time teaching in schools and out in the community than on Kenwood Hill.
Last month I had the opportunity to shoot one of the classes in Tophouse Cabin on Kenwood Hill. The two hour class was all ages, and at the end everyone got to choose what their weaving was made into, with everything from stuffed animals to coasters, to a purse or table runner being some of the options.
Converted these to black and white to make it easier to spot Lou's ghost, could almost feel her presence while I was there. May have just been her photo on the wall. Any of y'all spot her ghost?
Living history and hands-on creativity! Great topic for a post. I didn't spot any ghosts, but I like to see people keeping crafts alive.
It's such a cool place, and within walking distance to boot. They do artist residencies and have a small gallery too, along with the occasional community event. I'm actually working on a piece about it that I'm going to shop around to a few publications but writer's block had set in, did this to try and shake loose of that.
Great shots
Thank you!
Thanks to You for sharing
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