We were thrilled to receive a City of Kingston Heritage grant to support the project “Threads of History through the Limestone City.” Kingston has long been a site of textile labour and innovation. The building known today as the Woolen Mill was once home to the Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Company, parachute fibres were produced here during
World War II, and most recently dozens of makers donated their time to create fabric masks for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kingston is also home to a growing number of fibre arts groups, where experienced makers pass on knowledge and skills, as well as treasured objects, to new audiences. However, to date, there has been no formal accounting of these groups’ contributions to the Kingston community.
Our project aimed to explore this “quiet history” by collecting the oral histories of Kingston’s fibre artists, photographing and cataloguing the objects and records they have produced, and making this material accessible online to the public through a digital archive and series of online exhibitions.
Check out the Threads of History online exhibition here.
MEDIA RELEASE: Threads of History digital exhibition launched
Kingston, Ontario – The Kingston Handloom Weavers & Spinners (KHWS) is pleased to announce the launch of its virtual Threads of History display. Generously supported by a grant from the City of Kingston Heritage Fund, the Threads of History project brings together oral histories, objects, and images to tell the story of KHWS, from its founding in 1948 to the present.
Interviews with twenty KHWS members were conducted by two graduate student research assistants from Queen’s University during the summer of 2021, using a variety of technologies to accommodate COVID-19 safety measures. The resulting interviews were paired with images of fibres and friendships forged—gleaned from the Guild’s archives as well as members’ collections—to create five digital
exhibitions. These exhibitions explore the formation and early days of the Guild, KHWS’s involvement with the Kingston community, its commitment to fibre arts education and its social importance, as well as the personal stories of the Guild’s members. Together, they highlight the continued importance of the fibre arts to individuals and the Kingston community, and the deep connections between KHWS’s members.
In addition to capturing the rich history of KHWS, the Threads of History project reflects the narratives of makers and community members who are often overlooked in official histories of the region, and further serves as a model to other multi-generational guilds who might be looking to preserve their stories. As Guild President Rosamund Hyde notes, “What we knew was, people in our guild have wonderful stories to tell; what we learned was that many, many people were willing to help bring those stories to the world in this Threads of History website.”
The project also offered valuable research experience to two graduate student researchers, Jung-Ah Kim and Shaelagh Cull. Of her involvement with the project, Kim states “Coming to Kingston, I had no idea such a dynamic and creative fibre arts community existed. I feel very fortunate to have been part of this project and to learn the rich history of KHWS as well as the beauty of fibre arts. Not only has the project sparked my appreciation for textiles, but it has also informed my own graduate research in an exciting direction. I would like to deeply thank everyone for welcoming me to the project and sharing such wonderful stories.”
Visit the Threads of History project at https://khwsthreadsofhistory.omeka.net/