ROCKBRIDGE WEAVERS: Local History Exhibit

Event Description

"Rockbridge Weavers:" New Local History Exhibit
Sunday, 3:30-6PM 
Rockbridge Historical Society Museum, 101 E. Washington St.

On June 29, the Rockbridge Historical Society Museum opens a new FREE exhibit, “Rockbridge Weavers: Families & Fabrics in the 19th Century” 

Visitors can see live demonstrations on the 6-foot historic loom, local textiles from the period alongside, as well as some of the original, handwritten weaving patterns shared by a circle of families in Panther Gap, near Goshen, before the Civil War. Other newly displayed items from RHS collections complement the exhibit, to echo and extend some of these themes and patterns in Rockbridge history.

---- Special Exhibit on December 15! -----

Today, on December 15, Rockbridge Historical Sociecty Museum will host a free program "Sisters at the Loom"—tied to its 2024 exhibit on “Rockbridge Weavers.”

"Sisters at the Loom: 19th Century Rockbridge Families & Fabrics" 
Sunday, 2-6PM

2 PM | Manly Memorial Baptist Church, 202 S. Main Street
Exhibit curator and weaver Frances Richardson will present "Sisters at the Loom," exploring the origins and growth of this project, which blends research with craftsmanship and highlights the histories of artisanal and community life.

Richardson will showcase a group of "ordinary women, with extraordinary skills," and reveal how their connections through family, finances, and social networks shaped early 19th-century life around Panther Gap, near Goshen. She will also discuss how these historic patterns, traced from documents penned two centuries ago, inspire modern weavers to create vibrant reproductions today.

>> After the program at the church, attendees are invited to head two blocks down Main Street to the RHS Musum to continue the expereince. 

4 PM | Rockbridge Historical Society Museum, 101 E. Washington St.
View the complementary exhibit, "Rockbridge Weavers”with an opportunity to see the loom in action, and to chat with some of the contemporary weavers who've brought these materials to life, and light.

For more, see facebook.com/rockbridgehistory or contact Director@RocbkridgeHistory.org.